Brought Together
by kisshuismylife
Summary: When Ichigo's words hurt Kisshu, he collapses. Pai and Taruto kidnap Ichigo to find out what really happened. This isn't the same as 'Kisshu's Illness', but some aspects might be similar. Please R&R! ENJOY!
1. Prologue: Flashback

**Brought Together Chapter 1:**

**Prologue: Flashback**

_**Earlier that day: **__Kisshu sent out a Chimera Anima, and waited for the Mews to appear. He didn't have to wait long. They came running up soon after the Chimera Anima destroyed a small building, and as usual, Mew Ichigo yelled, "For the future of the Earth, we'll be of service, Nya!"_

"_That's cute, Koneko-chan, but it won't be that easy this time," Kisshu smirked. The tiger Chimera roared in agreement, and quickly dodged an attack from Zakuro, then leaped at her. Zakuro dodged, and Mint shot one of her energy arrows, hitting the tiger Chimera in the leg._

_The Chimera roared, and began thrashing around, until Ichigo and Lettuce performed their attacks at the same time. The two attacks hit the Chimera dead on, and it dissolved. The Mew's pink fluffy robot ate the parasite. _

_The Mews faced Kisshu, and Ichigo shouted, "Kisshu, why don't you ever give up? You can't win!"_

_Kisshu smirked and said, "I'll never give up, on this fight or on you falling in love with me."_

_Ichigo snarled, "I'll NEVER fall in love with a jerk like you! Why don't you just go die, and get the hell out of my life?"_

_Kisshu, instead of smirking or thinking up some clever comeback, lowered his head, his golden eyes sad, broken. Then he teleported away, leaving the Mews, and Ichigo in particular, in shock._

_**Back at the Cyniclon's base: **__Kisshu teleported in to find Pai and Taruto waiting for him. Pai started to say something, but suddenly, Kisshu collapsed. "Ichi…go…" He whispered before falling completely unconscious. _

_**Back to real time: **_Pai and Taruto looked at each other, worried. "This is bad timing," Pai said. "Deep Blue just abandoned us, and now something's wrong with Kisshu. We have to find out what happened in the battle he was just in."

"Wait! The last thing Kisshu said was 'Ichigo'," Taruto said. "What if we bring her in to find out what happened?"

"That's not a bad plan," Pai said. "First we should put Kisshu to bed, though. We can't just leave him on the floor like this."

Taruto nodded, and they took Kisshu to his room, then put him on his bed and covered him with a blanket. That done, Pai and Taruto teleported off to find Ichigo.

**I know it's a bit short, but I just wanted to set things up. In case anyone's wondering why Deep Blue abandoned them, I needed him out of the way to set up the plot for this story. I'm not exactly sure where this story will go, but that's the case with most of my stories. PLEASE Review!**


	2. Kidnapped!

**Brought Together Chapter 2:**

**Kidnapped!**

Pai and Taruto went to Earth to find Ichigo. They had decided to get her alone, without alerting her friends to their presence. To that end, they didn't send out any Chimeras, and teleported to the tree outside Ichigo's bedroom window, waiting for her to come home.

As it turned out, they didn't have to wait long. Ichigo entered her room about ten minutes after Pai and Taruto got there. As soon as she closed the door, Pai and Taruto teleported behind her. Before she could say anything, Pai knocked her out, and teleported off to the base with Taruto and Ichigo in tow.

When they got there, Pai set Ichigo down, and said, "Taruto, I want you to guard her. I'm going to go check on Kisshu."

"Fine…" Taruto said.

_With Pai: _Pai entered Kisshu's room, and walked over to the bed. He immediately noticed that the situation was worse. Kisshu was still unconscious, but now his cheeks were flushed with fever, and he seemed to be having trouble breathing. Pai went and got a washcloth, soaked it in ice water, wrung it out, then came back and put it on Kisshu's forehead. Pai was a bit nervous about leaving, but he knew Ichigo would be awake soon, and had to get back to Taruto.

_With Taruto and Ichigo: _Taruto was watching Ichigo, and suddenly she began to stir. Then she opened her eyes, and saw Taruto. She sat up, and glared at him. "What am I doing here?" she asked angrily.

Taruto was a bit uncomfortable, but said, "Um… Pai wanted you, so we brought you here."

"Why does Pai want me?" Ichigo asked, now sounding confused. "I thought he'd rather have Lettuce."

To her surprise, Taruto actually started giggling. He stopped quickly, however, as Pai came into the room. Ichigo stood up as he came closer. She noticed something odd. Pai looked really worried, and didn't have his usual monotone as he said, "Mew Ichigo, we brought you here to ask you some questions- about your battle with Kisshu today."

"Why me?" Ichigo asked. "Any one of the Mews could have told you what happened, and besides, didn't Kisshu tell you what happened?"

To Ichigo's surprise, Pai started looking even more worried than before. "Did something happen between the two of you today?" Pai asked.

"Um… I rejected him again, but that's not really new, is it?" Ichigo asked.

Pai's eyes widened, and he said urgently, "Tell me what you said to him."

Ichigo thought, then said, "I… told him to 'go die and get the hell out of my life'…"

Then Pai did something that surprised Ichigo- again. Pai actually hit himself in the forehead, then started doing it repeatedly.

"Um… Pai, are you okay?" Taruto asked. Ichigo was actually wondering the same thing. Why was Pai acting like this? Did something happen?

Finally Ichigo asked, "Um… did something happen? Because you're both acting differently than usual, and I haven't seen Kisshu at all since you brought me here."

Pai stopped hitting himself, and stared at her. Taruto did the same. Ichigo got uncomfortable, and said, "Why are you staring at me?"

"I guess it's time we told you, now that you've realized something's up," Pai said. "After his battle with you today, and obviously after you said what you said to him, Kisshu came back here, and before either of us could ask him how it went, he collapsed. The last thing he said was your name. We didn't know what could have happened to cause this kind of collapse, but now that you've told us what happened between you, I think I've got an answer."

"What is it?" Taruto asked.

Still talking directly to Ichigo, Pai said, "Kisshu truly cares about you, more than we've ever seen him care about anyone or anything- aside from his sister, who died about a year before Kisshu was sent to Earth. Kisshu was already pretty torn up about that, and when he found you, he kept talking about how it would be nice if you felt the same way he does. He's seen what you're like with everyone except him- caring and compassionate. He wants you to be like that with him, too, because he truly loves everything about you. You have no idea what it's like when he comes back after another rejection from you, and I don't even like to remember the look in his eyes."

Pai paused, and then said somewhat reluctantly, "I believe that what you said today is what caused Kisshu to collapse. He's been able to laugh off your rejections before, and go back to his normal self in a few days, but this might have been the last straw in a long line of hurtful rejections. I was hoping he would wake up by the time we got back with you, but I was wrong; the situation has, in fact gotten worse. Last time I checked on him, he had a fever and was having trouble breathing. I'm not sure what to do, since I don't exactly know what's wrong with him." Pai lowered his head.

Ichigo was shocked; she had thought Kisshu was only toying with her to get control of the Earth. Before she could stop herself, she said, "I didn't know Kisshu loved me; I thought I was just a toy to him. He's always saying that to me."

"That's just because he doesn't really know how to express his feelings anymore," Pai said. "He used to be very expressive and open, but he's changed since Ichigo's death."

"Wait, Ichigo?" Ichigo said.

"His twin sister, who died of a disease about a year and a half ago. That's another reason he feels so strongly about you, you have the same name as his sister," Pai said.

"I didn't know all that," Ichigo said. She was feeling bad; she had no idea what Kisshu had been through, though she knew the Cyniclon's planet was bad. Suddenly it looked like she was thinking hard about something.

Pai noticed this, and fell silent. Finally Ichigo came out of thought, and said, "Do… you want me to help Kisshu?"

Taruto's jaw dropped, and Pai looked shocked. "This isn't about pity, though, is it?" Pai asked.

Ichigo sighed. "No, it's because I want to. On top of feeling bad about what I did, Aoyama dumped me for being a Mew Mew today. If what you told me about Kisshu loving me is true, and he's still willing, I'm willing to give him a chance. Though I'm not sure what you think of that."

"Well, that's another thing," Pai admitted. "Deep Blue- our leader- abandoned us, for failing so often. We were about to ask you Mews if there was a way to cooperate before Deep Blue awakens when all this with Kisshu happened."

"If Deep Blue abandoned you, does that mean there will be others who come to take over?" Ichigo asked.

"Possibly, but there aren't that many warriors on our planet, so maybe, maybe not," Pai said. "We would be willing to come up with a truce, however. Deep Blue may not actually want what's best for my home. Besides, there is one way to destroy him."

"What is it?" Ichigo asked.

"Kill his human host," Pai said. "To actually take on a solid form, Deep Blue will have to join with the human he chose for his host."

"Oh… do you know who it is?" Ichigo asked.

"Not yet, but I'm working on finding out," Pai said.

Ichigo thought, then seemed to come to a decision. "If you will let me, I'll take care of Kisshu while you find Deep Blue's human host," she said decisively.

This time, both Taruto _and _Pai's jaws dropped.

**Back to cliffies, I know. Next chapter coming soon! REVIEW!**


	3. Caring for Kisshu

**Brought Together Chapter 3:**

**Caring for Kisshu**

Pai finally came out of shock, and said, "Thank you, that's a big help. Should I show you where Kisshu is?"

"Hai," Ichigo said.

Pai led her to a room near the main room, where they had been talking. He opened the door, and motioned for Ichigo to go in. She did, and gasped at what she saw. The room was huge, but that wasn't what had caught her attention. Kisshu was lying in the bed in the center of the room. His cheeks were flushed, and like Pai had said, he was having trouble breathing. He was also still unconscious.

"He's been like this since I brought you here," Pai said. He watched as Ichigo went to Kisshu's side, and gently put a hand on his forehead. She almost immediately yanked her hand away.

"Do you have fever medication here?" Ichigo asked. "His temperature is very high."

"We do, but we have to wake him up to have him take it," Pai said.

"I guess we'll just have to wake him up, then," Ichigo said reluctantly. "He shouldn't be left in that condition without medicine for very long, if the fever rises much more, it could kill him."

"I'll go get the medicine, you try to wake him up," Pai said, and teleported out.

Ichigo put a hand on Kisshu's shoulder, and tried shaking him gently, saying his name softly. He didn't even stir. She then started stroking his hair, saying his name over and over, her tone getting more and more urgent. This too proved useless.

By the time Pai got back, Ichigo had tried everything she could think of and was sitting on the edge of the bed with her head in her hands. She looked up as Pai teleported in, and said, "He's not waking up, and I've tried everything I can think of."

"That's not good," Pai said. "Move over, let me try something." Ichigo obeyed, and Pai leaned over Kisshu. He put one finger on Kisshu's forehead, and whispered something that Ichigo didn't catch. Pai's finger began to glow. Suddenly he tapped Kisshu on the forehead once, and took his finger away.

A few minutes passed, and Ichigo finally said, "Was that supposed to do something?"

"Yeah, it was supposed to wake him up," Pai said. He sounded confused.

"Well, I guess we'll have to come up with something else," Ichigo said. "Still, this is worrying."

"I agree, that technique I used usually works no matter what the situation," Pai said. "Hey, what if you kissed him?"

Ichigo turned red, but said, "I guess so…." She leaned down, and kissed Kisshu on the lips. Finally she broke off the kiss, and stood up again. A few minutes of watching Kisshu later, she turned to Pai and said, "It didn't work."

"It was an idea," Pai said, smirking.

"That's totally creepy," Ichigo said dryly.

"What is?" Pai asked.

"You smirking," Ichigo said. "You better not be like Kisshu when he smirks like that."

"What do you mean?" Pai asked.

"Usually when Kisshu has that smirk, he's thinking of something perverted, I can tell," Ichigo said.

"Hey, I'm nothing _like _Kisshu!" Pai said indignantly.

Ichigo giggled and said, "Sorry. We still need to find a way to wake Kisshu up."

"You're right, any ideas?" Pai said.

"No, I'm pretty much out of ideas," Ichigo said. "Do you think Taruto would have any?"

"Probably not any that I couldn't come up with on my own," Pai said.

Suddenly a thought occurred to Ichigo, and she said, "Did Kisshu ever have problems getting up in the morning when Ichigo was still alive?"

"Sometimes…" Pai said.

"Did Ichigo ever do anything to help him get up?" Ichigo asked.

Pai saw what she was getting at, and said, "Yeah, but if we do that, he's going to be sad to see that it's not really his sister if the idea manages to wake him up."

"We need to do something," Ichigo said. "I'd rather he'd be sad than dead from the fever."

"Good point," Pai said. Then he sighed. "Ichigo used to tickle him awake."

Ichigo sighed, but said, "Okay, where is he ticklish?"

"His stomach," Pai replied. "Just so you know, he would wake up and start a tickle war, so if you're ticklish, and he wakes up, I suggest getting off him fast."

"Great…" Ichigo said, then sighed, and took the blanket off Kisshu. Then she started tickling him in the stomach.

At first it seemed like nothing was going to happen. Kisshu remained motionless. It turned out that this was just an act, as Ichigo soon learned. Ichigo had just turned to look at Pai, when she suddenly felt fingers on her stomach, and she looked back at Kisshu. He wasn't completely awake, but his eyes were starting to open, and he had started tickling her. Ichigo started giggling, which led to full-out laughter soon enough.

She looked down at Kisshu, just as he opened his eyes, and said, "OKAY! I'm awake…." He trailed off, however, as he realized who was tickling him. He immediately stopped tickling her, and looked puzzled- and a bit sad.

Ichigo got off him. Pai came up behind her and said, "Well, your idea worked. Good job, Ichigo."

"Pai, what's going on, why is Ichigo here, and why do I feel awful?" Kisshu demanded.

"You collapsed almost as soon as you got back," Pai said. "Ichigo is here because we figured she had something to do with your collapse, and you feel awful because you have a really bad fever. I have some medicine here, and I think you should take it, it'll help."

"Yuck…" Kisshu said. "But why was Ichigo tickling me?"

"We couldn't wake you up any other way, and we tried everything- including Ichigo kissing you," Pai explained. Ichigo turned bright red as Pai continued, "She asked me if your sister ever did anything in particular to wake you up in the morning, and it seems her idea worked."

"Wait, how did you even know I had a sister, Ichigo?" Kisshu asked.

"It was part of Pai's long explanation about why he and Taruto brought me here," Ichigo replied.

"So Pai basically told you my life story?" Kisshu asked. He sounded angry.

"No, I just told her that you had a sister named Ichigo," Pai said. "And that you really loved everything about her…" he trailed off as Kisshu started to look murderous.

"Pai, if I wasn't feeling so weak right now, I would be strangling you," Kisshu said in a cold voice that Ichigo had never heard him use. "If I wanted Ichigo to know those things, I would have told her. You did not have the right to tell her about my personal issues. Besides, why didn't you just kill her? You're the one always going on about Deep Blue and how he's always right."

"Deep Blue abandoned us," Pai said bitterly. "Apparently we weren't good enough for him. I was going to tell you as soon as you got back, but you collapsed before I got the chance."

Kisshu looked shocked. He looked like he wanted to say something, but suddenly started coughing.

"Kisshu, you should really take some of the medicine," Ichigo said.

"Since when did you care?" Kisshu asked after he stopped coughing.

"Since Pai explained that you weren't just toying with my feelings and that you actually did love me," Ichigo said.

"And the treehugger?" Kisshu asked skeptically.

"He dumped me when he found out I was a Mew Mew. If I go out with someone, I need someone who will accept me for who I am, not someone like the treehugger, who can't accept anything that he doesn't understand," Ichigo said.

"I accept you for who you are," Kisshu said.

Ichigo smiled. "I know."

**I know it's kind of a crappy chapter ending. I'm putting more fluff in the next chapter though.**

**I also haven't decided when Kisshu is going to recover, because Ichigo taking care of him is fun. **

**And I know Pai is OOC, but I'm not good with his character, so please forgive me. REVIEW!**


	4. Ichigo's Decision

**Brought Together Chapter 4:**

**Ichigo's Decision**

Pai, noticing that Kisshu had calmed down somewhat, said, "Um… can you take that medicine now, Kisshu?"

"Fine, but then you have to explain how I got this way in the first place," Kisshu said. "I feel really weak and tired, and you said I have a really high fever. Why is that?"

"Medicine first," Pai said.

Kisshu sighed, but nodded. Pai poured a little of the fever medicine onto a spoon, and held it out to Kisshu, who swallowed it. When he had swallowed all of it, he said, "Yuck. Now are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Fine…. I'm not positive, but I think you went into a state of shock, and it was so severe that it caused you to get sick," Pai said.

"Why would I go into shock?" Kisshu asked, puzzled.

Pai glanced at Ichigo, and said, "We think it's because of what Ichigo said to you earlier."

"Oh…." Kisshu said. "Did you really mean that, Ichigo?"

"No, I didn't. I was just having a bad day, and your attack made it worse," Ichigo said. "I'm really sorry."

"Why were you having a bad day?" Kisshu asked.

Ichigo replied, "I woke up late and got yelled at by my teacher, that treehugger broke up with me, I had to work an extra two hours at the Café because I was five minutes late, and I had to fight your Chimera tiger thing."

"Wait, you were only five minutes late, and you had to work two extra hours?" Kisshu asked. "Blondie must really hate you…"

"I think he does," Ichigo said sadly. "I don't understand why, considering no one else actually does any work at the Café but me, but he obviously hates me, because I'm the only one he treats like dirt."

"Sorry about that," Kisshu said. "Hey, can I kill the treehugger now that you don't like him anymore?"

"Wait until you're recovered," Pai said before Ichigo could say anything.

"Fine….." Kisshu said. "I'm getting tired anyways. What time is it?"

"About 10 at night," Pai replied. "You should get some rest."

"Okay…" Kisshu said. He fell asleep a few minutes later.

Pai left the room and beckoned to Ichigo as well. She followed him out and he closed Kisshu's door.

"Do you want to go home?" Pai asked Ichigo.

He was surprised when she said, "No. I'm fine staying here as long as you are fine with it."

"Why?" Pai asked.

"I want to be here for Kisshu," Ichigo said.

"Is that the only reason?" Pai asked.

"I guess not…" Ichigo said. "I just want to get away, and besides, if I leave now, my dad will kill the treehugger before Kisshu gets a chance to."

"If you're staying here, don't you need clothes and things?" Pai asked.

"Might be a good idea…" Ichigo said. "I should leave my pendant behind, so Ryou can't track me."

"I'll teleport you back to your house, then you can get your stuff," Pai said. He took her hand and they teleported to Ichigo's room. Ichigo quickly grabbed a bag, and shoved some clothes into it. Then she peeked out the door, ran to the bathroom, grabbed some toiletries, and ran back, closing her door silently. She shoved the stuff into the bag, then grabbed her sleeping bag and pillow and said softly, "Okay, I'm all set, let's go." Pai nodded, and teleported her back to Kisshu's room.

Once there, Ichigo laid out her sleeping bag and pillow, and took her shoes off. She set her things to one side as Pai teleported out. Ichigo climbed into her sleeping bag, and went to sleep.

**Short, I know. I'll post more tomorrow, I think. I'm hoping people will review soon…. Thanks to Shady-rocket-chu-girl, who is my best friend and my first reviewer.**


	5. Cold

**Brought Together Chapter 5:**

**Cold**

Ichigo woke up the next morning to find Kisshu coughing again. She climbed out of her sleeping bag and went over to him. When she saw that he couldn't sit up, she pulled him up, holding him until the coughing subsided.

"Koneko-chan, why are you helping me?" Kisshu asked after he got his breath back.

Startled, Ichigo replied, "Because this is all my fault."

"Do you like me?" Kisshu asked.

Ichigo turned bright red and mumbled, "I'm not sure…"

Kisshu smirked, and said, "You sure about that answer? Cause you look like a strawberry right now."

Embarrassed, Ichigo tried to change the subject. "Are you feeling better, Kisshu?" she asked.

"Unfortunately, no," Kisshu replied, the smirk fading. "I still feel really weak, and that cough doesn't feel good."

Ichigo put a hand on Kisshu's forehead, and sighed. "You also still have a fever, though it's a little better than last night," she said.

"I'm kind of cold," Kisshu said.

"I'll go see if Pai has extra blankets," Ichigo said. "Try to go back to sleep, k?"

Kisshu nodded, and Ichigo helped him lie back down. Then she left the room.

Ichigo realized that she should have asked Kisshu where Pai might be, but luckily for her, Pai was just coming out of a room nearby when she thought this.

"What's up, Ichigo?" he asked when he saw her.

"Kisshu says he's cold, and I was wondering if you had extra blankets around here somewhere," Ichigo explained.

"Yeah, sure," Pai said. "How's Kisshu doing, besides being cold?"

"He says he still feels really weak, and he's got a cough. His fever went down a little, but not much," Ichigo said.

"Sounds like he might have a bad cold," Pai said. "I'll get those blankets and some more of the fever medication. Come with me."

Ichigo nodded, and followed Pai down the hall. He stopped and opened the door of what looked like a storage room. "Wait here," he told Ichigo. Ichigo nodded, and Pai went in. He returned a minute later with a stack of blankets. Then he said, "Okay, now we need the medicine. The medical ward is down here."

Ichigo followed him to another room, and went in. It looked like a normal hospital room, and Pai went over to a shelf, and started looking at bottles. Finally he took one down, and said, "This is the one we need. I think I'll carry it, can you carry the blankets?"

"Sure," Ichigo said, and took the stack of blankets from Pai. Then they went back to Kisshu's room.

When they went in, however, what they saw worried them. Kisshu obviously had a fever, but it looked like he was having trouble breathing again. As they watched, he started coughing, but didn't wake up.

When the coughing fit stopped, Kisshu was still asleep, but his breathing was labored. "This doesn't look too good," Ichigo said. "Is there any way to help him breathe easier?"

"I can try something," Pai said. He went over and put a hand on Kisshu's chest. His hand started to glow, but nothing happened. "This isn't good," he said finally. "My powers seem to have no effect on him lately."

Kisshu was still having trouble breathing, and Ichigo was getting worried. _What if he dies? It'll be all my fault. I wish there was something I could do…. _Suddenly she had an idea.

"Pai, do you have the power to heal? Is that what you're trying to do?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah, why?" Pai asked.

"Is it possible to inject me with that power?" Ichigo asked. "If we worked together, maybe it would work better."

Pai looked a bit uncertain, and said, "If I inject you with my DNA, you might gain other abilities besides the power to heal."

"If it's to keep Kisshu from dying, I'm willing to risk it," Ichigo said.

Pai sighed, but said, "Okay then. Let's go to my lab. I'll get Taruto to watch Kisshu for now."

Ichigo nodded and followed Pai out. She followed him to a room with a sign on it that said, 'Taruto's Room. Keep Out.' Pai banged on the door and shouted, "TARUTO! GET OUT OF BED!" They heard a 'thud', and soon after Taruto came out and said grumpily, "What is it now, Pai?"

"I need you to go watch Kisshu," Pai said. "If he gets worse, come tell me. I'll be in my lab with Ichigo."

"Doing what? I thought you liked Lettuce," Taruto said slyly.

Pai turned dark red, and said in a dangerously quiet voice, "I am not Kisshu. Ichigo came up with a plan that involves me injecting her with my DNA, to help Kisshu recover. THAT'S why we're going to be in my lab. Now go watch Kisshu!"

Taruto snickered and teleported off. Pai glared after him, then said to Ichigo, "Let's go."

Ichigo followed him to his lab, where he closed the door, and said, "Okay, I'm going to go mix some of my DNA with some other things, and then I'll inject you with it. No touching things in here, it'll only take me a few minutes."

"Okay," Ichigo said. She watched as Pai took a vial out of a cabinet. Then he took some of his own blood, and mixed it with the liquid in the vial. Finally he poured the mixture into a small canister with a needle attached. Then he said, "Okay, come sit in this chair, and I'll inject you with this."

Ichigo nervously came over and sat down. "Just close your eyes," Pai said, noticing her nervousness. Ichigo nodded, and closed her eyes. Pai stuck the needle in her arm, and pushed all the serum into her vein.

To Ichigo's surprise, it didn't hurt much. Finally she heard Pai say, "Okay, I'm done. Hold this against your arm for a minute while I get a bandage." Ichigo opened her eyes, and took the bandage from Pai, pressing it against her arm until Pai came back, and wrapped a bandage around her arm. "You're all set," Pai said. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm a little dizzy, but other than that I'm fine," Ichigo said. "Should we go check on Kisshu?"

"Okay," Pai said. Ichigo got out of the chair, and walked a little unsteadily to the door.

"Which way?" Ichigo asked.

"I'll show you," Pai said, and led her back to Kisshu's room. They noticed he was still having trouble breathing.

Taruto looked up as they came in, and said, "Kisshu's not any better. How'd it go?"

"Well, I injected her with no problem," Pai said. "Let's see how well it worked. Ichigo, come over here. I'll show you what to do."

Ichigo came over and stood next to Pai. "Okay, put your hand on his chest," Pai instructed. Ichigo obeyed. "Close your eyes, and try to feel the problem," Pai said.

Ichigo closed her eyes and concentrated. "It feels like something's clogging his lungs," she finally said.

"Okay, then imagine the thing that's clogging his lungs fading away," Pai instructed.

Ichigo concentrated, and pictured the stuff clogging Kisshu's lungs fading away. When she sensed it was all gone, she opened her eyes, and looked at Kisshu. His breathing had returned to normal!

"Wow…" Taruto said.

"That worked better than I thought it would," Pai said. "Ichigo, you might be more powerful than me."

"Well, I'm just glad it worked," Ichigo said. They all turned back to Kisshu. He was starting to wake up.

**I think Kisshu's going to get better next chapter. Ichigo is now part Cyniclon! I wonder how the other Mews will react… Plz Review!**


	6. Kisshu's Recovery

**Brought Together Chapter 6:**

**Kisshu's Recovery**

As the others watched, Kisshu began to wake up. He opened his eyes, looking slightly dazed. He seemed surprised to see Ichigo, Pai and Taruto standing over him. "What just happened?" he asked. "I thought I couldn't breathe, but now I'm not having any trouble."

"Ichigo healed you," Pai said. "There was something clogging your lungs, and she took care of it."

"Ichigo, I didn't know you could use your powers without transforming," Kisshu said.

"Well, that's another thing," Pai said. "I injected her with my DNA, so she'd have the ability to heal, since my powers weren't doing anything."

"Where did you come up with that idea?" Kisshu asked.

"I suggested it," Ichigo said. "Pai told me his powers weren't working on you, so I thought if I could get the same power, maybe I could do it."

"Thanks, Koneko-chan," Kisshu said. "Do you have any other powers now?"

"I don't know," Ichigo said. "I was focused on healing you, so I wasn't really thinking about it."

"We might want to find out what else you can do, if anything," Kisshu said. "Pai, can you manage that?"

"Sure," Pai said. "Ichigo, close your eyes, and I'll try to find out what else you may be able to do."

"O-okay," Ichigo said. She closed her eyes, and Pai put a hand on her forehead, then closed his eyes. Finally he said, "Aside from healing, you should be able to fly, teleport, and you'll be less susceptible to cold."

"That's _cool," _Ichigo said.

"You might also be able to create Chimera Anima, but I'm pretty sure you don't want to do that," Pai said. "I guess we'll have to teach you how to use your new powers. It won't be like your Mew powers, where it just comes naturally. You'll have to practice."

"That's fine," Ichigo said. "But don't you have to find Deep Blue's human host? Who's going to teach me?"

"I figured we'd let Kisshu recover, then he could train you," Pai said. "Besides, you did want to take care of him."

"That reminds me, aside from being able to breathe again, how are you feeling, Kisshu?" Ichigo asked.

"I still feel pretty weak, but other than that, I'm feeling somewhat better," Kisshu said.

Ichigo put a hand on his forehead, and said, "Well, your fever seems to be pretty much gone, so I think the only thing left is the weakness. I guess you'll have to stay in bed a while longer, until you feel stronger. Can you sit up at all?"

Kisshu tried, but nearly fell, and Ichigo had to catch him before he fell.

"I guess not," Kisshu said. "I'm getting tired again."

"Go back to sleep, I'll make some food for you to eat later," Ichigo said.

Kisshu nodded, and soon was asleep again. Ichigo turned to Pai and Taruto. "Do you have a kitchen?" she asked.

"Sure," Pai said. "We've got some ramen, too."

"Okay, I'll make some for Kisshu," Ichigo said. "Can you show me where it is?"

"Yeah, come with me," Pai said. "Taruto, stay with Kisshu."

Ichigo followed Pai out as Taruto grumbled something along the lines of 'boring'.

Pai took Ichigo to the kitchen, and showed her where everything was, then said, "I'm going to go search for Deep Blue's human host. Will you be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine, thanks Pai," Ichigo said. Pai nodded and left. Ichigo got out a package of ramen and a pot. She filled the pot with water, and put it on to boil. When it was done, she poured the ramen in, and poured it into a bowl. Then she went back to Kisshu's room with the bowl.

Noticing Taruto was still there, she said, "Taruto, you can leave if you want to." She set the bowl down on Kisshu's bedside table.

"Thanks," Taruto said, and teleported out. Ichigo sat down in the chair next to Kisshu's bed, and waited for him to wake up. A little while later, Kisshu woke up, and said, "I'm hungry."

"I've got some ramen for you," Ichigo said. "If I help you sit up, can you eat it?"

"I think so," Kisshu said. Ichigo helped him sit up, then handed him the bowl and chopsticks. Luckily for both of them, Kisshu was able to eat, although his hands were a bit shaky.

When he was done, Ichigo took the bowl and chopsticks from him, and helped him lie back down. "Get some more sleep, it'll help you recover," Ichigo told him. "I'm going to bed as well, so I'll see you tomorrow."

"K," Kisshu said. He settled down to sleep, and Ichigo climbed into her sleeping bag.

The next morning, Ichigo got up, and checked on Kisshu, who was still asleep. Ichigo smiled slightly and went to take a shower. When she came out of the bathroom fully dressed, she saw that Kisshu was waking up. He sleepily opened his golden eyes, and said, "Morning, Koneko-chan."

"Morning," Ichigo said. "How are you feeling?"

"Stronger," Kisshu said. "I think I can sit up."

"Do you want to try it?" Ichigo asked.

"Sure," Kisshu said, and slowly pushed himself up. Soon he was sitting up with no problem.

"That's great, Kisshu," Ichigo said. "Do you think you can stand up?"

"I'll try," Kisshu said. He pushed back the covers and put his feet on the floor, then stood up. Ichigo noticed he was a bit shaky, and came over to steady him. "I'm okay," Kisshu told her. "I don't think I'll be able to teleport or fly for a while though."

"Well, it's not like you've got anywhere to go right now," Ichigo said.

"Yeah, but it might be harder for me to train you if I can't show you what I mean," Kisshu said.

"Well, you can still tell me what to do," Ichigo said. "Is it hard to learn these things?"

"Somewhat," Kisshu said. "How well you do depends on how well you can concentrate. I was also going to take you somewhere on Earth to learn teleporting, since there's not much room around here."

"Well, we could save teleporting until you're fully recovered, and work on flying in the meantime," Ichigo suggested.

"That's a good idea," Kisshu said. "Let's go to the training room, and I'll start teaching you."

**Sort of a cliffhanger…. Plz Review!**


	7. Learning to Fly

**Brought Together Chapter 7:**

**Learning to Fly**

Ichigo followed Kisshu to the training room- a huge empty room near Pai's lab. Once they were inside, Kisshu closed the door and said, "Okay, I was going to try a different method of teaching you how to fly, but I've got another idea, since I can't fly right now. Close your eyes, and imagine yourself floating."

Ichigo closed her eyes, and pictured herself floating in midair. At first nothing was happening, but suddenly Ichigo started to feel lighter. She opened her eyes, and looked down. To her surprise, she was about five feet above Kisshu, who also looked surprised. "Wow, I didn't get that high when I first started flying," Kisshu said. "Now, if you want to go in a certain direction, think of that direction, and lean your body in that direction."

Ichigo thought, _Left. _She leaned in that direction, and suddenly felt herself moving left. She flew that way for a little while, until Kisshu said, "Okay, come back over here." She obeyed, and found herself a little above Kisshu. _Down, _she thought, and landed softly next to Kisshu. "Wow, I didn't even need to tell you how to land," Kisshu said. "I've never seen anyone pick up flying that fast."

Ichigo blushed, and said, "Maybe it's because I'm infused with the DNA of someone who already knows how to fly."

"Oh, that's right, you didn't just get any DNA, you got Pai's DNA," Kisshu said. "You might be right."

"Should we go tell Pai that I can fly now?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah, sure," Kisshu said. "I'll show you where his lab is." Ichigo followed Kisshu out of the training room, and down the hall, until they reached a large metal door. "This is Pai's lab," Kisshu said. "It should have an 'Enter at Your Own Risk' sign, because he gets MAD if we go in without permission." Ichigo giggled, and Kisshu smiled at that. Then he knocked on the door. When that didn't produce a response, he banged on the door and shouted, "OI! PAI!"

"WHAT!?" Pai shouted back.

"We've got something to tell you!" Kisshu said excitedly.

Pai opened the door, and said, "What is so important?"

"Ichigo can fly!" Kisshu said. "Show him, Ichigo!"

Ichigo nodded, then concentrated, and floated up about five feet. Then she flew up a little more, and flew over to the right. Then she landed. Meanwhile, Pai's jaw was on the floor. "H-how did you learn that fast?" he asked.

"I don't know," Ichigo said. "I thought maybe it was because I was injected with your DNA, and you already know how to fly."

"Oh, maybe…." Pai said. "Kisshu, how are you feeling? I see that you can walk."

"Yeah, but I can't fly or teleport yet, so Ichigo's teleporting lessons will have to wait," Kisshu said. Suddenly he stumbled, and Ichigo caught him.

"Maybe you overdid it, Kisshu," Ichigo said. "I think you should go get some more rest. Come on, I'll help you."

"Thanks, Koneko-chan," Kisshu said. He was starting to sound tired.

Ichigo helped Kisshu walk back to his room and lie down on the bed. Then she tucked him in. He was asleep within minutes. Ichigo sat down in the chair next to his bed, and waited for him to wake up.

Six hours later, Ichigo was both tired and worried. Kisshu hadn't stirred since she tucked him in. And it was about midnight, so Ichigo decided to go to sleep herself. She figured Kisshu would be up in the morning.

The next morning, she saw that she was right. Kisshu was waking up, and he opened his eyes as she came over. "How are you feeling today?" Ichigo asked him.

"Better, I think I was just tired," Kisshu said. "I also feel stronger than yesterday, so I might be able to fly and teleport."

"That's great, do you want to try it?" Ichigo asked.

"Can we get something to eat first?" Kisshu asked. "I'm hungry."

"Sure," Ichigo said. "I saw some cereal the other day, do you want that?"

"Sure," Kisshu said. "Let's go."

They walked to the kitchen, and found the cereal in a cabinet next to the stove. Ichigo took it out, and they got two bowls together.

When they finished breakfast, they went back to Kisshu's room. "I'm feeling a lot better," Kisshu said. "I think I should be able to fly, at least." He tried it, and floated up with no problems. Then he suddenly teleported, and before Ichigo could figure out where he went, he grabbed her from behind, causing her cat ears and tail to pop out. Kisshu laughed and let Ichigo go. Then he said, "Well, I can teleport too. Should I start teaching you how?"

"Yeah!" Ichigo said excitedly. Kisshu smiled and said, "Picture where you want to go in your mind, then imagine yourself there. I think it'd be best if you stayed in this dimension at first, so I'd suggest teleporting to the training room."

Ichigo nodded, then closed her eyes, and concentrated. Suddenly, to Kisshu's surprise, she teleported. Deciding to see if she ended up where she was supposed to, Kisshu teleported to the training room as well, and was actually a little shocked, since Ichigo was not only there, she was doing backflips in midair. When she saw Kisshu, she landed and said, "Teleporting is a weird feeling, but it's cool!"

"I've never seen anyone learn to teleport properly their first time," Kisshu said. "You're amazing."

Ichigo blushed, and said, "Thanks, Kisshu." She seemed really happy.

"Let's go tell Pai," Kisshu said. "Hey, since you made his jaw drop last time, maybe this time he'll faint from shock!"

Ichigo giggled, but still said, "Kisshu, that's not very nice."

"Let's go tell him anyways!" Kisshu said.

"Okay," Ichigo said. They walked to Pai's lab again, and like last time, Kisshu banged on the door until a very irate Pai stormed out and yelled, "What NOW?"

"Ichigo's got something to show you!" Kisshu said. He looked at Ichigo, who nodded, then teleported behind Pai and poked him in the back.

Pai spun around, saw Ichigo behind him, and said, "Wha…. How…. WHEN DID YOU LEARN TO DO THAT!?"

"Um.. about fifteen minutes ago," Ichigo said.

Pai's jaw hit the floor. Then he turned to Kisshu. "Do you have any idea how she got this good in FIFTEEN MINUTES?"

"Beats me," Kisshu said. "Whatever you did to her seems to have speeded up the rate at which she learns."

"What are we going to tell the other Mews when she gets back?" Pai asked.

"They should be happy, I have new powers," Ichigo said.

"When do you want to go back?" Pai asked. "Not that we mind having you here, but won't your friends and family be worried?"

"Yeah, maybe…" Ichigo said. "You guys wanted to form a truce, right? Let's go tomorrow after the Café closes."

"Okay, I'll tell Taruto the plan," Pai said.

**I should have another chapter up soon!**


	8. Back Home

**Brought Together Chapter 8:**

**Back Home**

The next day, Ichigo packed her stuff and got ready to go back. Then she and the Cyniclons waited till Café Mew Mew's closing time. When they saw it was time, the four of them teleported back to Earth, landing outside the Café. Noticing the door was closed, Ichigo went up and knocked, followed by Kisshu, Pai and Taruto.

Luckily for them, Lettuce was the one who opened it, and she cried, "ICHIGO?"

Ichigo and the Cyniclons heard running footsteps, and then the door was flung open.

Ichigo noticed that everyone was staring at her and the Cyniclons, and said, "Can we come in?"

"Why are _they _here?" Mint asked, pointing at Kisshu, Pai and Taruto.

"We're here with a proposal," Pai said.

Zakuro sighed and said, "You can come in. But Ryou's not going to like this."

Ichigo nodded to Kisshu and the other two, and they followed the other Mews inside. Ryou and Keiichiro came out of the kitchen just at that moment, and Ryou started looking murderous. Then he said, "Ichigo, where have you been, and why are you with those rotten aliens?"

"We're here with a proposal," Ichigo said. "And I've been staying at the Cyniclon's base."

"WHY would you do something like that?" Ryou asked, completely outraged.

"Well, at first it was because Pai had some questions, but I decided to stay after that," Ichigo said. "I found out that the reason Pai and Taruto brought me to their base was that Kisshu had collapsed, and they thought it had something to do with our battle that day. It turned out that they were right; what I said to Kisshu that day caused him so much pain that he went into shock. He also became sick from that, and I stayed to take care of him."

"That's not like you, Ichigo," Ryou said. "Did they do something to your mind?"

"NO, they did not," Ichigo said. "I actually stayed for two reasons. One, I felt I should make things right with Kisshu. But I was also looking to get away for a while."

"Away from what?" Ryou asked.

"YOU!" Ichigo shouted. "I was totally sick of you bullying me, cutting my pay just for the fun of it, and making me work overtime just for being late! It's not my fault my cat genes make me tired- it's yours! If I had a choice, you'd be in jail for ruining my life! The only good thing about this is meeting my friends and Kisshu. I hate you, Ryou!"

Ryou looked shocked. "Y-you don't really mean that, do you?" he asked.

"Why do you care? You hate me too!" Ichigo said.

"I think we're getting off track," Keiichiro said before Ryou could respond. "Ichigo, why did you bring the aliens here?"

"We have a proposal to make," Pai said. "Because we lost so many times, our leader abandoned us. We decided that it might work better if we and you guys formed a truce, and then used the Mew Aqua to save my home planet."

"Would that mean you wouldn't attack anymore?" Keiichiro asked.

"We would have no reason to attack," Pai said. "I believe this would benefit both of our groups."

Everyone was surprised to hear Lettuce say, "I agree. I never thought we should fight in the first place, but I was overruled."

"It would be nice to stop fighting," Mint said.

"Pudding likes this idea, na no da," Pudding said.

Zakuro said thoughtfully, "I agree too. This would be a much better solution than fighting each other endlessly."

"I think it's a good idea, we wouldn't have to put you girls in danger so much," Keiichiro said. Everyone looked at Ryou.

"I refuse," Ryou said. "I wouldn't trust those aliens, ever. I don't understand why you all trust them. And Ichigo, if you helped them, you're just a traitor. I don't see why you'd help them; all they did was make your life miserable."

To everyone's surprise, Ichigo didn't cry or run away from Ryou. Instead, she replied, "They never made my life miserable. You are the one who made my life miserable, Ryou. You turned me into a Mew Mew without my permission, and made me fight them, and overworked me just for laughs. The Cyniclons are just trying to help their people, and you obviously could care less. You could have picked anyone, and you chose to make me a Mew Mew. I could have had a completely normal life, and never had to lie to my parents, but you are the reason my life has been a misery. If you hadn't chosen me, maybe this wouldn't have happened. But you did choose me, and now I think that since I'm the leader of Tokyo Mew Mew, I have the right to make decisions as well. Frankly, I think you should lose that right, and let me handle this. If the Cyniclons are willing to make peace, we should be too. I'm aware of how much you hate me, but you were the one who made me the leader of this team. As leader, _I_ am telling _you _that we are going along with the new plan whether you like it or not."

"You're going to regret this," Ryou said. Then he ran off- or tried to. Ichigo teleported in front of him, and said, "If you're going to the basement to get one of your inventions, you'll have to go through me first."

Lettuce came over and said, "Me too." The other Mews looked at each other and joined Ichigo and Lettuce. Kisshu, Pai and Taruto came over too.

"What will you do now, Ryou?" Ichigo asked.

**I know, I know, it's another cliffhanger. In this story, I'm not going to promise that Ryou will live. Sorry to Ryou fans, but I hate him with a burning passion, and I just seem to have a thing about killing him. I've realized that I can't really make promises about not killing him. Please don't flame me!**


	9. Fighting

**Brought Together Chapter 9:**

**Fighting**

Ryou tried to turn and run, but Keiichiro was behind him, and he stopped Ryou. "Give it up, Ryou," he said. "The others are right. This is a much better idea than making them risk their lives on a nearly daily basis."

"NO!" Ryou shouted. "I don't care if they want to stop fighting, I'm not going to be satisfied until those stupid aliens are dead!"

"This is about your parents, isn't it?" Keiichiro asked. "Do you really think that they'd want you to kill the Cyniclons? They weren't like that. They wouldn't have wanted you to kill others just to avenge them. Besides, not all Cyniclons are alike. These three have offered a truce, and you're still saying no? I thought you cared about the wellbeing of these girls and the Earth, Ryou."

"I do, and I don't trust the aliens to do the right thing, which is why I'm objecting!" Ryou said.

"I don't think so," Ichigo said coldly. "I think you just want revenge for your parents, and you don't care about what happens to others, as long as _you're _satisfied with the outcome."

"Do you really hate me, Ichigo?" Ryou asked.

"Yes, I do," Ichigo said. "You're an evil, stuck-up jerk who doesn't care about anyone but himself. Why would I like you? You've never given me a reason to like you, instead you gave me every reason to hate you."

"Then you can go down with the aliens when I kill them," Ryou said.

"Well, I've got news for you, Blondie," Ichigo said. "You're not going to kill any of us, since we can all fight and you can't."

"You think I can't fight?" Ryou said. "Well, think again!" With that he pushed a button on his watch.

To everyone's surprise, the floor split and a pedestal rose up. On the pedestal was a large sword, which Ryou picked up. "Now what will you do?" he smirked.

"This," Ichigo said. Then she threw her right arm out to the side, and shouted, "Inazuma no Yaiba!" **(Blade of Lightning, in Japanese). **A sword with a slim blade appeared in her hand, and she gripped it. The blade seemed to be crackling with electricity, and there was a lightning bolt on the hilt.

Everyone looked shocked; Ichigo hadn't even transformed. Ryou recovered quickly, and lunged at Ichigo. She dodged, and swept her blade toward Ryou, who dodged as well. However, her blade hit his sword, and since metal conducts electricity pretty well, Ryou got electrocuted, and fell to the ground, paralyzed by the electricity.

"What are YOU going to do now, Ryou?" Ichigo asked.

Ryou glared at her, but since he was pretty much paralyzed, he couldn't really talk, either. Seeing this as an opportunity, Keiichiro said, "I'll take him upstairs. Should I tie him up as well?"

"Might be a good idea," Ichigo said. Keiichiro nodded and dragged Ryou off.

Ichigo turned to the others, who were now speechless. Kisshu was the first to find his voice, and he said, "Wow. I didn't know you had a weapon too, Koneko-chan." Then he looked at Pai and said, "Um…. I thought you said she could only heal, fly and teleport."

"Yeah…. That's what I thought too," Pai said.

The Mews were getting confused. "Wait, since when can Ichigo fly and teleport?" Mint asked.

"Since I told Pai to inject me with his DNA to help Kisshu recover," Ichigo said.

"So now you're part Cyniclon, part human, and part cat?" Lettuce asked.

"Yep," Ichigo said.

"The strange thing is that she has a weapon," Pai said. "When I looked at her powers to find out what she could do, I didn't sense that she could use a weapon. I think she can create Chimera Animas, but I didn't know she could summon a weapon."

"Ichigo, why on EARTH would you do something like that to yourself?" Mint asked.

"I just told you, it was to help Kisshu recover," Ichigo said. "Pai's healing powers weren't working for some reason, and I suggested if he injected his healing abilities into me, it might work. He did warn me that I might get some other powers, but I still said to go ahead with it. As you can see, Kisshu's fine."

"Um… how are you going to explain this to your parents?" Lettuce asked.

"Why do they need to know?" Ichigo asked.

"I think after you had been gone for a few days, Ryou told them the truth," Zakuro said.

"Great…." Ichigo said. "Well, I should go let them know I'm okay. I'm not looking forward to that. Kisshu, you should come too."

"Why?" Kisshu said.

"Well, if you still want to date me, we have to run it by my dad," Ichigo said.

Kisshu flinched. "He'll kill me!" Kisshu said.

"I'll protect you then," Ichigo said. "Let's go."

Kisshu sighed, but didn't have much of a choice as Ichigo grabbed his hand and teleported the two of them to her front door.

**Well, Ryou's not dead- at least not yet. *insert evil laugh here* Next chapter, Kisshu meets Shintaro! Review and tell me what you want to happen!**


	10. Meeting the Parents

**Brought Together Chapter 10:**

**Meeting the Parents**

Ichigo walked up to her front door, towing a very nervous Kisshu with her. She knocked on the door, and waited.

They didn't have to wait long. Ichigo heard running footsteps, and the door was flung open. "Ichigo? Where have you been? We were worried sick!" Sakura said.

"Sorry Mom," Ichigo said. "I was staying with Kisshu."

"Why, may I ask, were you staying with a BOY?" Shintaro asked, starting to get a slight death aura around him.

"It's a long story…" Ichigo said.

"Does this have something to do with what your boss told us, about you being a Mew Mew?" Sakura asked.

"Um… Yeah," Ichigo said.

"Well, why don't you both come in, and you can explain what happened," Sakura said.

Ichigo nodded, and dragged Kisshu into the house. They all went to the living room, and sat down. When everyone was settled, Shintaro said, "Okay, talk."

Ichigo nodded, and said, "Two weeks ago, I was fighting Kisshu again, and as usual, when he said he wanted me to fall in love with him, I didn't really believe him. I said something pretty horrible to him, and he left. Pai and Taruto, his brothers, came and kidnapped me later that day, because what I said to Kisshu apparently caused him to go into shock and get sick. Pai explained that Kisshu really did love me, and he wasn't just toying with me. I decided to stay with them and take care of Kisshu, after Aoyama dumped me for being a Mew."

"What on Earth did you say to him?" Sakura asked. She sounded worried.

"I'd rather not repeat it…" Ichigo said.

"Kisshu, are you okay?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, thanks. Ichigo helped me get better," Kisshu said.

Suddenly Shintaro said in a somewhat dangerous voice, "So, that treehugger dumped you? I warned you he was no good."

"Yeah, he dumped me," Ichigo said. "Luckily I found that Kisshu really does love me, and he accepts me for who I am, Mew Mew or not."

"So, why did you stay for two weeks?" Sakura asked.

"Well, I wanted to take care of Kisshu, but Ryou has been bullying me, and I wanted to just get away for a while, so I didn't have to deal with him. When I came back, and told him what I thought of him, he attacked me. Luckily I discovered a new power just in time, and paralyzed him," Ichigo said.

"He ATTACKED you!?" Shintaro screamed. "I'M GONNA MURDER HIM!"

"Dad, I don't think you should do that…." Ichigo said. "Besides, me, Kisshu, and the other Mews and Cyniclons can handle it."

"Can I at least murder the treehugger?" Shintaro asked.

"Sorry, I already promised Kisshu he could do that," Ichigo said.

"So I don't get to murder ANYONE!?" Shintaro shouted.

"Honey, you don't want to end up in jail, do you?" Sakura said. "If you murdered someone, you could end up in jail."

Shintaro sighed heavily. "Fine…."

"Ichigo, do you want to tell us anything else?" Sakura asked.

"Well, I brought Kisshu here to ask if we could start dating," Ichigo said. "Are you okay with that, Mom?"

"I guess so, as long as he doesn't hurt you," Sakura said.

"I would never hurt Ichigo," Kisshu said sincerely. "That's not something you do to someone you love."

"Good," Sakura said. "I think it would be nice for Ichigo to have someone to talk with, seeing as she can't tell her school friends about her life as a Mew Mew."

"Do I get a say in this?" Shintaro asked.

"Depends on what you're going to say," Ichigo said. "I'm not taking 'no' for an answer. I'm old enough to make my own decisions, Dad."

"Fine….." Shintaro said, and went back to sulking.

"YAY!" Ichigo shouted, and hugged Kisshu. "See, I told you he wouldn't kill you, Kisshu."

"You were right," Kisshu said, hugging her back.

"Why would you think Shintaro would kill you, Kisshu?" Sakura asked.

"I know what he was like with that treehugger," Kisshu said. "Ichigo told me he's always been against boys."

"Well, I think I'll override him this time," Sakura said. "Ichigo should have someone who loves her and cares about her besides her family."

"I love her more than anything," Kisshu said.

Sakura smiled, and Ichigo kissed him.

**Not the best chapter, but I thought it might be fun to have Sakura override any objections Shintaro might have. So now that Kisshu and Ichigo are together, any more ideas?**


	11. Ryou Disappears

**Brought Together Chapter 11:**

**Ryou Disappears**

The next day, Ichigo went back to school, while Kisshu went back to the Cyniclon's ship. They had agreed to meet up after Ichigo was done at school.

Ichigo was very grateful for her new ability to teleport, since she got to school on time by teleporting into a nearby tree. She made sure no one was around, then jumped down, and ran into the school for her first class.

At recess, she was surrounded by girls, much to her surprise. One of them asked, "So what happened between you and Masaya?"

"He dumped me after telling me I was an irresponsible freak," Ichigo said. "Why, did something happen?"

"He said you dumped him, and started going out with a girl from the next grade up," the girl said.

"I didn't dump him, I wouldn't do that unless I had a very good reason," Ichigo said. "I thought he loved me, but apparently not."

"We thought there was something a bit strange about this- especially after Namida over there said you must have been crazy to dump him, and Moe and Miwa tried to tie her to a tree, saying that you weren't crazy and that Masaya had been acting weird lately," the same girl said.

"Hey, I haven't seen Moe or Miwa at all today," Ichigo said. "Do you know where they are?"

"Well, unfortunately the principal caught them tying Namida up after they stopped screaming at her, and suspended them for the next week," the girl said.

"They can be a bit overprotective," Ichigo said. "But I'm surprised they went that far."

"Well, Namida said a few other things that I'd rather not repeat," the girl said, glaring at Namida. "Hopefully she's seen the error of her ways by now."

"Why did Masaya say you were an irresponsible freak?" Namida asked. The other girls gave her warning looks, but to their surprise, Ichigo said, "I have a problem with being late. Other than that, I don't know."

The girl who had done the most talking said, "Well, at least we know what really happened. And Namida, you really should think before you speak. We _knew _you had a crush on Masaya, but whether Ichigo dumped him or he dumped her, you actually had a better chance on him before you start shooting your mouth off."

"Fine… I'll stop…" Namida said. Then the bell rang, and everyone went back to class.

After school, Ichigo went to the park to meet Kisshu. To her surprise, he looked worried when she came up to him. "What's wrong?" she asked him.

"Ryou has disappeared," Kisshu replied. "We'll have to be more careful, we think he's out to get you."

Ichigo sighed, but said, "Okay, I'll be careful. Are the other Mews aware of this?"

"Hai," Kisshu said. "We actually have to get over to Café Mew Mew. Keiichiro found a note from Ryou, and he wants all of us there."

"Okay," Ichigo said. Then she and Kisshu teleported into Café Mew Mew.

Everyone else, including Pai and Taruto, were already there. Keiichiro stood up and said, "Good, everyone is here. Let's go to the basement, and talk about what to do."

Everyone followed him downstairs. Keiichiro picked up a piece of paper on the desk, and said, "This is the note Ryou left. Here, I'll read it."

_Sorry, but I'm leaving. I made sure that you'll never find me. But I'll be back for my revenge, so Ichigo, prepare yourself. You and those damn aliens are going down._

_-Ryou_

"This is worrying," Keiichiro said. "There seems to be no way to find him on my computers, which means we'll be unable to track him. If he's out for revenge, we'll have to be more careful. Ichigo, you need to keep your guard up; he seems to be out to get you."

Pai said, "I think that there is a way to find him; my radar might be able to find him. Should I go try?"

"Yes please," Keiichiro said. "We need to find him soon, before he can hurt anyone."

"I'm on it," Pai said, and teleported off.

Keiichiro turned back to Ichigo, and said, "Ichigo, you should inform your parents, and if they agree, I think that you should stay somewhere else for a while. Ryou knows where you live, and if he goes to your house, it might involve your parents as well. Pai has already said that you can go back to living with them, and since Ryou has no way of getting to the Cyniclon's base, I think that might be best, if your parents will allow it."

"I'm not sure what they'll say, but I think that you should help me with the explanation, or my dad will just think that I just am looking for an excuse to spend alone time with Kisshu," Ichigo said.

"She's right," Mint said. "Her dad would think that."

"Okay, I'll go with you," Keiichiro said. "Kisshu, you come too, so you can tell Ichigo's family what she might need with her."

"Okay," Kisshu said. "Let's teleport, I don't want to be seen."

"Okay," Keiichiro said.

Ichigo grabbed his hand, and teleported to her living room, with Kisshu close behind. Her parents were watching TV, and looked up, startled, as Ichigo, Kisshu and Keiichiro teleported in.

"Ichigo? What's going on?" Sakura asked.

"We've got a problem," Ichigo said. "Ryou disappeared, and left a note that says he'll come back for revenge against me."

"I'LL MURDER HIM!" Shintaro shouted.

"Dad, we already told you, you'll end up in jail," Ichigo said.

Sakura looked worried, and said, "Does this mean Ichigo's in danger?"

"Hai," Keiichiro said. "We think we have a solution, however. If Ichigo went back to living with Kisshu and his brothers until Ryou is found, she would be safe, since you have to teleport to get in, and Ryou can't teleport."

"What are we going to tell the school?" Sakura said. "I don't want Ichigo to fall behind."

"Well, you could tell them that I'm sick, and ask if they could send the work home until I'm able to come back," Ichigo suggested. "Then I could just do the work and bring it back with me when I come back."

"And how would you get the work?" Shintaro asked. "Your mom and I can't teleport to you."

"But I can teleport, and so can Kisshu, Pai and Taruto," Ichigo said. "I can come back anytime."

"Koneko-chan, it might be better if one of us got the work," Kisshu said. "If Ryou comes here, and sees you, he'll attack, and your parents could get involved."

"True," Ichigo said. "Okay, we'll do it that way, if this is okay with you, Mom and Dad."

"I want you to be safe, so I'm okay with it," Sakura said.

"I guess it's fine, but no funny stuff with Kisshu, got it?" Shintaro said warningly.

"Yes, Dad, I wasn't planning on it anyways," Ichigo sighed.

Suddenly, Pai teleported in, and everyone looked at him. "Did you find Ryou? Keiichiro asked.

"About that…."

**MWAHAHAHAHAHA! CLIFFIE! REVIEW!**


	12. Going into Hiding

**Brought Together Chapter 12:**

**Going into Hiding**

Pai looked worried as he continued, "I scanned the radar over all of Japan and found nothing on Ryou. So then I broadened the search to the whole Earth. I couldn't find him anywhere."

"This is bad," Keiichiro said. "Now we have no idea when or where he might strike. I wonder how he managed to hide like that?"

"Unfortunately, I have no clue," Pai said. "It's like he just vanished."

"Well, until we find him or get attacked, we should help Ichigo get ready," Kisshu said. "I think we should get some more food, too, since it's not like we have any money, and I doubt she could eat our food."

"I can go shopping while you guys help Ichigo pack," Sakura offered. "I'll be back soon."

"Thanks, Mrs. Momomiya," Pai said. "Ichigo, you should get started on packing clothes and stuff. You should bring your pendant this time, so you'll have it handy. I suggest you bring your sleeping bag and pillow again, so you'll have somewhere to sleep."

"Okay, I'll go do that," Ichigo said.

"Can I help?" Kisshu asked.

"Fine, but no going through my drawers," Ichigo said. Kisshu sighed, but followed Ichigo upstairs.

Once they got to Ichigo's room, she took out a suitcase, and started stuffing clothes into it. After she stuffed a bunch of clothes in, she went to the bathroom, and got her toiletries. Then she came back and put those in the suitcase as well. She grabbed her pillow and sleeping bag, and said, "Okay, I'm all set. Can you carry the suitcase?"

Kisshu nodded, and picked it up. Then the two of them went back downstairs. Sakura was back, and she had a lot of groceries. "Okay, I got you all a bunch of food, and if you need more at some point, come let me know," she said.

"Thanks, Mom," Ichigo said. Then she turned to Kisshu and Pai. "Should we get going?" she asked.

"Hai," Pai said. Ichigo nodded, and hugged both her parents, saying, "Bye, I'll miss you."

Shintaro and Sakura both said, "Be safe, okay?"

"Yep!" Ichigo said. Then she, Kisshu and Pai grabbed the groceries and her stuff, and teleported back to the Cyniclon's ship.

They arrived in Kisshu's room, where Ichigo would be staying. "I'll go put this food in the kitchen," Pai said, and left them alone.

"So Koneko-chan, what do you want to do now?" Kisshu asked with a perverted smirk.

Ichigo, unfortunately, didn't notice, and said, "Beats me. What about you?"

"This!" Kisshu said, and kissed her right on the lips before she had a chance to move. She tried to back away, but Kisshu wrapped his arms around her, so she couldn't escape. Ichigo struggled for a minute, but Kisshu didn't let go. However, soon enough, and to both of their surprise, Ichigo began to kiss back, though not as passionately as Kisshu.

Finally they broke apart for air. When they both got their breath back, Kisshu smirked and said, "So, you do like me, huh Koneko-chan?"

"Yes…" Ichigo said softly.

Kisshu seemed a bit shocked. That quickly wore off, and he shouted, "YES!" causing Ichigo's ears and tail to pop out.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to hear that," Kisshu said after he calmed down a bit. "I've loved you from the beginning, and I always wanted that feeling to be returned."

"I'm sorry I didn't realize that sooner," Ichigo said. "But I'm glad Pai told me that you actually did love me, because now we're together."

"Hey, I told you the same thing several times," Kisshu said.

"Yes, but you also claimed I was your toy, and that's not what love is," Ichigo reminded him.

"Oh… yeah…" Kisshu said.

Ichigo smiled and said, "Well, we're together now, and that's all that matters."

**I'm aware that after last night's cliffie, this is probably pretty disappointing. I don't think this came out the way I wanted it to. I know it's filler, but I'll try to make the next chapter better- after people review, that is!**


	13. Situation

**Brought Together Chapter 13:**

**Situation**

Ichigo had been at the Cyniclon's ship for three days, and was actually enjoying herself. Since she still got work from her school, she did that, but she was also getting sword fighting lessons from Kisshu. Kisshu was an expert, and Ichigo was learning a lot from him. She enjoyed sword fighting, but she really just enjoyed spending time with Kisshu, who was really fun to hang out with. The two of them had become very close, and Ichigo had stopped resisting when Kisshu kissed her out of nowhere. She was also practicing teleporting and flying, as well as using her weapon.

Pai had examined her weapon, and it actually had similar abilities to his fans. The Inazuma no Yaiba could shoot lightning out of the blade, just like Pai's fans. Pai had taught Ichigo how to accurately shoot the lightning at a target, and she eventually learned how to control it. She was having a lot of fun with the Cyniclons. But little did they know, the fun was about to end.

Two days later, Pai received a call from Keiichiro, and called Ichigo, Kisshu and Taruto in to listen. Keiichiro waited till they were all there, and said, "I've got some bad news. Ichigo's parents were supposed to come to the Café yesterday, but they never showed up. I sent Mint and Lettuce over to their house, and they weren't there. However, it looked like there had been some sort of struggle, because when Lettuce and Mint called me over, there were overturned plants, and a few broken dishes in the kitchen. There was no sign that anyone was still there, but there was a puddle of blood in the kitchen. I did an analysis on it, and it was actually Ryou's blood, so I'm assuming that he's holding Ichigo's parents hostage."

"Did he leave a note?" Pai asked.

"No, and that's what worries me," Keiichiro said. "However, I think that I may be able to find him now that I have some of his blood."

"If he didn't leave a note, he might be planning something other than holding them hostage," Pai said. "I think you should try to find him fast. I'll go look on the radar again. I'd like you to contact me if you find anything, and we'll be right over."

"Will do," Keiichiro said. "I'll get right on that." He cut the connection.

Pai turned to the others. "I'm going to look on the radar again. I'll tell you if I find anything." He left.

"I shouldn't have left them," Ichigo said. She was on the verge of tears. "What if he kills them?"

"We'll find them before that happens," Kisshu said. "I'll do everything I can to help and so will everyone else." He hugged Ichigo, who hugged back tightly.

Suddenly Pai raced back in and said, "I found him. Let's call Keiichiro!" Then he pushed a button on one of the screens, and Keiichiro's surprised face came up.

"Did you find him?" Keiichiro asked.

"Hai," Pai said. "He's in a warehouse near Tokyo Bay. There's a trapdoor, and he's in a room with Ichigo's parents underneath it. Call the other Mews, and we'll meet you at the Café."

"Got it," said Keiichiro, and cut the connection.

Pai turned to Ichigo, Kisshu and Taruto, and said, "Let's go."

They nodded, and teleported to Café Mew Mew. The other Mews were already waiting, and they had transformed. "Let's go," Pai said. "All of you, grab one of us, and we'll teleport you to the warehouse."

The Mews nodded, and soon they were teleporting. They landed in front of an abandoned-looking warehouse, and quietly entered. Pai pointed to a spot below a window, and whispered, "We'll teleport down, and save Ichigo's parents. I'll teleport them to Café Mew Mew, and come back. Ichigo, stay here, since you're the leader of the Mews. I promise I'll take them straight to Keiichiro."

Ichigo nodded, and they teleported down into the underground room. Ryou was nowhere to be seen, but Ichigo's parents were tied up nearby, and seemed to be unconscious. The Mews and Cyniclons looked at each other, than slowly started forward.

Ichigo was in the lead, but suddenly the floor under her opened up. She threw out an arm to stop the others, and floated over the hole in the floor. Just to make sure she wouldn't fall, she continued to float rather than walk over to her parents. Finally she reached them, and grabbed both their hands, then teleported back, and whispered, "Pai, get them out of here. We'll find Ryou."

Pai nodded and teleported off. Ichigo then said out loud, "Ryou, if you're in here, come out. Stop playing games."

They all heard Ryou say, "Fine, but don't blame me when you regret picking a fight." Then he stepped out of the shadows nearby.

"Hey, if you were here the whole time, why didn't you try to stop us taking Ichigo's parents back?" Mint said.

"Oh, they were just bait so I could kill you all. I didn't really care what happened to them as long as you all came after them," Ryou said.

"You seriously think you can kill all of us without any help?" Ichigo asked incredulously.

"Yep, I've gotten a lot stronger, so you don't have a chance, even if you attack all together," Ryou said smugly.

"Overconfidence will be your downfall, Blondie," Kisshu said. "But I'm not complaining."

"I'm not overconfident, just determined to finish you all off," Ryou said. "But enough talk." He pressed a button on his watch, like last time. Same as last time, a hole opened in the floor, and a large sword in a case appeared. Ryou grabbed it and said, "Well, are you ready?"

The Mews all called on their weapons, except Ichigo, who hadn't transformed. Instead, she shouted, "Inazuma no Yaiba!" her blade appeared in her right hand, as Kisshu and Taruto also summoned their weapons. Pai teleported in just at that moment, and summoned his fans.

Ryou lifted his sword, and went straight for Ichigo. She dodged and swept her sword around, trying to cut Ryou's arm. He dodged as well, and Kisshu saw a chance in this. He leapt forward, Dragon Swords out, but Ryou suddenly spun around, then as Kisshu got close, he lunged forward and with the flat of his blade, smashed Kisshu back into the wall!

Kisshu cried out and slumped to the ground, unconscious. "KISSHU! THAT DOES IT, RYOU!" Ichigo shouted, and then yelled, "INAZUMA SENKO!" **(Lightning Flash, in Japanese). **Lightning shot out of her sword, and hit Ryou in the chest. He screamed in pain, and Ichigo saw this as her chance. She lunged forward, and before Ryou could move, she thrust her sword through his heart.

As he collapsed, Ichigo ran to Kisshu, who was still unconscious. She turned him over gently, and put a hand on his chest. Her hand began to glow, until she took it off. "I can't sense anything wrong," she told the others, who were watching her anxiously. "I don't know when he'll wake up, though. Let's get back, guys."

The others nodded, but then Mint said, "What about Ryou's body?"

"Let's just leave it," Ichigo said. "He doesn't deserve a funeral after what he did."

The others nodded, so Ichigo picked up Kisshu, and teleported back to Café Mew Mew.

**That chapter was more exciting. Please don't flame me for getting Kisshu hurt! It's kind of cool that Ichigo defeated Ryou single-handedly, though, right? REVIEW! **


	14. Awakening

**Brought Together Chapter 14:**

**Awakening**

Ichigo teleported into Café Mew Mew, where she found her parents and Keiichiro waiting. They all looked worried.

"What _happened?_" Sakura asked. "You're covered in blood, and Kisshu's unconscious! And what happened to the others?"

"The others should be here soon, I'm covered in blood because I killed Ryou, and Kisshu's unconscious because Ryou smashed him into a wall when he tried to help me," Ichigo said. "Keiichiro, can I put Kisshu in one of the rooms upstairs?"

"Uh… Sure," Keiichiro said. "Come with me." Ichigo followed him upstairs, as did her parents. Keiichiro opened a door and said, "In here will be fine."

Ichigo went in and put Kisshu down on the bed, then covered him with a blanket. Then she dragged a chair next to the bed, and sat down. "I'm going to stay until Kisshu wakes up," she told her parents. "The others should be back by now, so could you go tell them that I'm up here watching Kisshu?"

"Sure," Shintaro said. He and Sakura left, and Ichigo turned back to Kisshu.

Six hours later, Ichigo was getting really worried, not to mention tired. It was about 11 at night, and Kisshu hadn't moved at all. The others had gotten back fine, and no one was injured besides Kisshu.

By midnight, Ichigo couldn't really keep her eyes open anymore. She finally gave it up, took off her shoes, and climbed into the bed next to Kisshu. In the back of her mind, she knew her dad would blow a fuse if he saw her like this, but at the moment she could care less.

The next morning she woke up to find that Kisshu was still unconscious. Suddenly she remembered what she did last time he wouldn't wake up. So she got out of the bed, took the blanket off, and started tickling Kisshu.

Like last time, he didn't respond at first, but then he started to wake up, and started tickling her too. Soon they were both laughing. Finally they both stopped, and Ichigo said, "Well, I'm glad that worked. How are you feeling, Kisshu?"

"I'm pretty sore," Kisshu said. "Did you guys get Ryou after he knocked me out?"

"Yeah, I killed him," Ichigo said. "I was really mad when he knocked you out, and I attacked while he was still laughing about hurting you. I'm glad he's dead."

"That's great, Koneko-chan," Kisshu said. "By the way, how long have I been out?"

"He knocked you out yesterday afternoon, and it's about 9 in the morning now, so it's been about 17 hours," Ichigo said. "You had me pretty worried."

"Sorry about that," Kisshu said. "Can we get something to eat?"

"Sure, but I think we should go tell everyone you're okay as well," Ichigo said. "Let's go downstairs."

"Okay," Kisshu said. He stood up, and they went downstairs. They were surprised to see a bunch of sleeping bags on the floor, and everyone, including Ichigo's parents, up and setting the tables. Keiichiro was cooking what smelled like pancakes. Everyone looked up as Kisshu and Ichigo walked in.

"Kisshu, how are you feeling? You had us all worried," Pai said.

"I'm still really sore, but other than that, I'm fine," Kisshu said.

"Good," Pai said. "I'm just glad you weren't seriously injured."

"Thanks, Pai," Kisshu said.

Suddenly Keiichiro stuck his head out of the kitchen and said, "The pancakes are ready, so come and get them."

Everyone went into the kitchen and got a stack of pancakes from Keiichiro, then sat down to eat.

After breakfast, Ichigo and Kisshu were going to go on a date, but Sakura said, "Ichigo, you should change clothes. You're still covered in blood."

"Okay, Mom," Ichigo said. Then she grabbed Kisshu's hand, and teleported to her room. "Okay, I'm going to go take a shower and change," Ichigo told Kisshu. "Wait here, and DON'T go through my drawers!"

"Fine…." Kisshu said. Ichigo looked at him suspiciously, but gathered up some clothes and left anyways.

Ichigo was right to be suspicious. Kisshu had only agreed to not going through her drawers because he spotted her diary. As soon as she left, he waited a minute, then started leafing through it.

**I'm kind of out of ideas, so if people could review or PM me with ideas, I'd appreciate it. I did have a few ideas for Ichigo's diary, but I'm actually too tired to keep thinking, so I'm cutting it off for tonight. I'll post more tomorrow!**


	15. Ichigo's Diary

**Brought Together Chapter 15:**

**Ichigo's Diary**

Kisshu opened the diary to the first page. It was the day he first fought Ichigo. Then he started reading.

_Dear Diary,_

_I can't believe it! Aoyama-kun asked me out! We're going to the amusement park! But something strange happened before school. Some guy jumped off a building and kissed me! I think he's one of the aliens Shirogane was talking about; he sure didn't look human to me… I think he said his name was Kisshu. Yikes! I have to get to the Café!_

_Later… Well, that was a disaster. I had to fight a monster at the amusement park, and Kisshu showed up AGAIN! He's kind of strange, he said he wanted to 'play' with me. I wonder what he meant. But then he said he had to kill me, and it was lucky that Mint and Lettuce came along when they did._

_Well, good night, Diary!_

Kisshu figured a lot of the diary entries would be about the treehugger, so he flipped to a page near the middle.

_Dear Diary, _

_Today Ryou was yelling at me again. I hate that guy. I don't understand why he hates me so much- I'm the only one who actually works at the Café. And he never yells at anyone but me, even though Mint doesn't work at all. So what if I'm late sometimes? He's the one who injected me with cat genes; I didn't choose that, and now I'm tired all the time. He ruined my life! I know this sounds wrong, but since no one but me reads this, I'm going to write it down anyways. Sometimes I wish that instead of killing innocent people who have nothing to do with the Mews, the aliens could take their anger out on Ryou. It's his fault they have opposition. Besides, if he dies, at least he can't ruin anyone else's life, the way he ruined mine._

_Wow, _Kisshu thought. He flipped to the next page, which was the day before Ichigo's words caused him to collapse.

_Dear Diary,_

_Masaya has been weird lately. I wonder if we're growing apart. I hope not. But I've been thinking lately, and I think that Kisshu is actually kind of hot. I wonder what it would have been like if we had met as friends, not enemies. I think I actually kind of like him, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't feel the same. He's always calling me his toy. That's not what liking someone is. It's too bad, though. I wish that I could tell him how I felt, but that's impossible. Then again, if Masaya breaks up with me, maybe I could ask him if he actually does love me. Maybe that would be okay. I know Ryou would have a fit, but I've found that lately, I don't care what he thinks. The aliens are people too, and I think Lettuce has been right all along- we shouldn't be fighting. Too bad Blondie can't see it that way._

Kisshu stopped reading. Then he put his head in his hands. A tear trickled down his cheek as he thought, _She didn't think I had any feelings for her? Was that the reason she always rejected me? Maybe I should have tried a different approach._

Kisshu was lost in thought, so he didn't notice Ichigo come in. He jumped when he heard her say, "Kisshu, is something wrong? You're crying."

Then she noticed that he had been reading her diary. At first she was angry, but that faded quickly, because Kisshu was still crying silently.

Ichigo said softly, "Kisshu, what part did you read?"

He looked up at her, and asked, "You really thought I had no feelings for you?"

Ichigo came over and looked at the page he had been reading. She saw what he had read, and sighed. "Kisshu, until Pai's explanation about why he kidnapped me, I didn't realize that you were telling the truth about loving me. What I wrote here is true; I don't think liking someone is telling them they're a toy. I also believed that you were trying to trick me to get control of the Earth."

Kisshu put his face in his hands and started sobbing. "I'm sorry!" he said.

Ichigo was shocked by this. She'd never seen Kisshu break down like this. Nevertheless, she put her arms around him, and said, "I'm sorry too."

Kisshu slowly started to calm down after a little while. By this point, though, he was tired out from crying, and he was starting to fall asleep in Ichigo's arms.

Ichigo noticed this, and smiled softly. She then lifted Kisshu, who was now asleep, onto her bed, and lay down next to him, wrapping her arms around him and pulling a blanket over them both.

The next morning, Kisshu woke up, and was surprised to find he was still in Ichigo's room, and not only that, but she was hugging him in her sleep. As memory came back to him, though, his smirk faded. Then he noticed that Ichigo was starting to wake up as well.

Ichigo noticed Kisshu was already awake, and said, "Are you feeling any better, Kisshu?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Kisshu said. He still sounded sad.

"Maybe I should have let you go through my drawers instead," Ichigo said. "You're pretty depressed. I think I should just get rid of that diary. Every time you look over there, you get sad again."

Before Kisshu could reply to this, Shintaro came storming in and said, "Good, you're awake. Now do you mind explaining to me why you were SLEEPING TOGETHER?"

Kisshu sighed again, but Ichigo said, "I was trying to cheer Kisshu up, because he was sad."

"SO YOU SLEPT WITH HIM!?" Shintaro shouted.

Ichigo sighed, then shouted, "MOM! GET DAD OUT OF HERE BEFORE KISSHU STARTS CRYING AGAIN!"

Fifteen seconds later, Sakura ran in, took one look at Kisshu's face, and said, "SHINTARO! OUT! I'll handle this." She then proceeded to shove him out the door, and then slammed it before Shintaro could start ranting again. Sakura sighed, then sat down next to Ichigo and Kisshu on the bed and said, "Okay, what happened?"

"Kisshu was reading my diary, and some part of it really upset him," Ichigo said.

"May I ask why you were reading her diary, Kisshu?" Sakura asked.

"I was bored, and she said I couldn't look through her… um… stuff, so I saw the diary and got interested," Kisshu said sadly.

"Ichigo, what did you write?" Sakura asked.

"I wrote that I had feelings for Kisshu, but I was pretty sure he didn't feel the same way," Ichigo said. "That was before Pai explained that Kisshu was just having trouble expressing himself, and that he really did love me."

"And then what happened?" Sakura asked.

"I came back, and saw that Kisshu was crying, so I asked him what part of the diary he read. He showed me, and I told him that what I wrote was true, and he broke down," Ichigo said. "Then he fell asleep, and I wanted to make sure he didn't think I was mad at him, so I slept next to him. I promise we didn't do anything besides sleep last night."

Sakura sighed, than hugged Kisshu. He stiffened, surprised, then to everyone's surprise, he started crying again. Ichigo started stroking his hair, as Sakura asked, "Kisshu, what's wrong?"

Kisshu said softly, "I don't have a mother."

Sakura let him go, but kept a hold of his shoulders as she said, "Well, the way you and Ichigo are going, I think you'll have one soon. I _know _Ichigo will be there for you forever, and if you both want, I'll be happy to support you both. I'm going to go have a little chat with Shintaro, since I think he still has issues with this. I'll make sure he doesn't scare you again. Ichigo, stay with Kisshu. He needs you."

"I will, Mom," Ichigo said. As Sakura let go of Kisshu, Ichigo took him in her arms. This time, he hugged back, and Ichigo started stroking his hair again. Sakura smiled softly at them both, and left, closing the door behind her.

"Kisshu, I think you're wearing yourself out," Ichigo said. "Go back to sleep, I'll be right here."

Kisshu slowly fell asleep in Ichigo's arms again. Ichigo smiled, and gently put him down on the bed. Then she sat down at her desk, and started on some of the schoolwork she hadn't finsished. She also put the diary out of sight.

About two hours later, Kisshu woke up again. Ichigo noticed and said, "How are you feeling, Kisshu?"

"Better than I was earlier," Kisshu said. "I'm sorry, Koneko-chan."

"I'm sorry too," Ichigo said. "I should have realized your feelings sooner- and not left my diary lying in plain sight."

"Your mom is really nice," Kisshu said.

"Yeah, she's wonderful," Ichigo said. "Should we go downstairs? Mom should be done lecturing my dad by now, and I'm kind of hungry."

"Yeah, me too," Kisshu said. "Let's go."

**I have no idea why I wrote all this. I think it's cute, so I hope others do too. Thanks to LadyMelodyLily and MewBlueberryLuvsKisshu for ideas for Ichigo's diary, even though I didn't exactly use them. They helped me though! Review Please!**


	16. The Disappearance of Aoyama Masaya

**Brought Together Chapter 16:**

**The Disappearance of Aoyama Masaya**

Ichigo and Kisshu went downstairs to find something to eat. To their surprise, Sakura and Shintaro were both in the kitchen. They both looked up as Kisshu and Ichigo came in.

"I made some blueberry muffins," Sakura said. "I thought it might help you feel better, Kisshu."

"Thanks," Kisshu said. "I'm actually feeling somewhat better already. Ichigo and you were really helpful."

Sakura smiled, and continued, "I believe Shintaro has something he needs to say."

Shintaro sighed, and said, "Kisshu, I'm sorry I scared you. I just get a little overprotective when it comes to Ichigo and boys."

"That's fine," Kisshu said. "I know it's because you care; I just wasn't feeling great this morning, and I kind of wasn't really capable of handling all the yelling."

"Well, I'm glad you're so mature about this," Shintaro said. "I guess I'm fine with you two being together."

"Thanks," Kisshu said.

"The muffins are done, so come eat," Sakura said. She put a plate of blueberry muffins on the table, and a jug of milk too. Then she got some plates and glasses, and set the table. She sat down with them, and said, "Okay, let's eat!"

Kisshu, Ichigo and Shintaro each took a muffin. Kisshu looked at his hesitantly, then took a bite. "This is _great," _he said. "I've never had these before."

Sakura smiled, and said, "I'm glad you like them."

"Mom makes the best blueberry muffins," Ichigo said.

When they were done eating, Sakura said, "Ichigo, have you finished all the schoolwork? You have to go back tomorrow."

"Yep," Ichigo said. "I'm all set."

The next morning, Ichigo got up and went to school. She noticed that a lot of the girls looked worried, so at recess, she went up to one girl and asked, "Is something wrong? I see a lot of girls looking worried."

"Oh, that's right, you've been sick, so you didn't hear the news," the girl said. "Masaya has disappeared, and no one knows what happened to him."

"That's not good," Ichigo said. "Did his parents call the police?"

"Yeah," the girl said. "But they can't find him either."

"That's strange," Ichigo said. "I wonder why he would disappear."

"Hey, you used to be his girlfriend, right?" the girl asked.

"Yeah," Ichigo said. "He dumped me though, I guess I wasn't good enough."

"His new girlfriend isn't a very nice person," the girl told Ichigo. "I wonder why he'd pick her over you. You seem very nice."

"Oh, well, thanks," Ichigo said.

"Do you have a new boyfriend?" the girl asked.

"Yeah, but he's being homeschooled," Ichigo said.

"Then how did you meet?" the girl asked.

"We met through my job," Ichigo said. "I worked at Café Mew Mew."

"That place closed down, right?" the girl asked.

"Yeah, the owner disappeared, and his assistant wasn't really up for running the place by himself," Ichigo said. "I'm actually kind of glad, the owner was a really nasty person. The only reason I stayed was because a friend of mine worked there too. She liked it, but she wasn't a very good worker, so I stayed to help her out."

"That's a really nice thing to do," the girl said. Then the bell rang. "We should go," the girl said. "Oh, I'm Momo, by the way.

"Nice to meet you, Momo," Ichigo said with a smile. Momo smiled back and ran off to her next class.

After school, Ichigo went home, and found that Kisshu was already waiting for her. "Pai found Deep Blue's human host, but we don't know where he is," Kisshu said. "Let's go, we've got a meeting at the Café."

Ichigo nodded, and they teleported to the Café. Pai waited till everyone was there, and said, "Okay, Deep Blue's human host is actually Aoyama Masaya. Unfortunately, he seems to have vanished. My radar can't find him anywhere."

"I heard at school that he disappeared a week ago," Ichigo said. "I was wondering what might have happened, but this explains it."

"Maybe Deep Blue has him," Kisshu suggested. "If he's in a different dimension, it would explain why you can't find him on Earth."

"That seems like the most reasonable explanation," Pai said. "But if that is the case, we'll have to work fast. If Deep Blue joins with Aoyama, he'll be almost unbeatable."

"Great…" Ichigo said. "Well, is there a way to get to that dimension?"

"Hai," Pai said. "We have to teleport in."

"Okay," Ichigo said. "Let's start planning."

**Okay, does anyone have ideas for what should happen with Deep Blue? Please Review or PM me!**


	17. Planning

**Brought Together Chapter 17:  
Planning**

"Does anyone have any ideas?" Pai asked.

"We teleport in, find Deep Blue, and defeat him," Kisshu said. "Or if he hasn't become one with the treehugger, we kill him and Deep Blue vanishes."

"That sounds reasonable," Ichigo said. "But I don't think it will be that easy, especially if Deep Blue is awakened before we get there."

"That is why we should go as soon as possible," Pai said. "I think tomorrow is good, since we should get some rest beforehand, and for you Mews, it's a day off from school, right?"

"Hai," Ichigo said. "That sounds fine, Pai." She looked at the others, who nodded.

"Good, let's break up this meeting," Pai said. "We'll meet here again tomorrow." Everyone nodded and left.

Kisshu and Ichigo went back to her house. Sakura and Shintaro were waiting for them, and as soon as they walked in, Sakura asked, "How did it go?"

"We're attacking tomorrow," Ichigo said. "Pai says it's not good to wait too long, or Deep Blue could be awakened before we have a chance to kill the treehugger, who is his human host."

"I KNEW that guy was no good," Shintaro grumbled.

"Will you both be okay?" Sakura asked. "I don't want either of you to get hurt."

"We'll do our best," Ichigo said. "I know this isn't what you want to hear, but there is the chance that we'll get hurt. This is going to be a tough fight."

"I'll protect Ichigo with my life," Kisshu said. "We'll both be fine."

"Just please be careful," Sakura said. "I don't want to lose either of you."

"We will, Mom," Ichigo said. "You won't lose us."

Sakura still looked worried, but she hugged them both together, and said, "Please come back."

"We will," Kisshu and Ichigo said.

"I want to stay over with Kisshu tonight, is that okay?" Ichigo asked.

"Couldn't you both stay here?" Sakura asked.

"I have to ask Pai first," Kisshu said. "I'll go do that." He teleported off.

"Ichigo, do you really have to do this?" Shintaro asked.

"I think you know the answer to that, Dad," Ichigo said. "I won't be fighting alone, and neither will Kisshu. We'll have Pai, Taruto and the other Mews behind us all the way. We won't lose this battle."

Suddenly Kisshu teleported back in and said, "Yep, Pai said it's fine. I brought some of my stuff, so is there somewhere you'd like me to sleep?"

"You can have the guest room," Sakura said. "Ichigo will show you; I'm going to go make dinner."

"Come on, Kisshu," Ichigo said, and led him upstairs. He put his stuff in the guest room, and then they went back to Ichigo's room to wait for dinner.

"Dad doesn't want me to do this," Ichigo sighed.

"It's just because he doesn't want you to get hurt," Kisshu said. "Besides, he's never seen you fight, so he doesn't know how good you are."

"Thanks, Kisshu," Ichigo said with a grin. Kisshu smiled back. Then Sakura called them down for dinner.

**I know, it's both short and a filler. I'm going to do the battle next chapter, I think, so stay tuned and REVIEW!**


	18. The Battle

**Brought Together Chapter 18:**

**The Battle**

The next morning, Kisshu and Ichigo got up and got ready. When they came downstairs, Sakura and Shintaro were waiting. Sakura hugged Ichigo, then Kisshu, and said, "Please be safe."

"We will," the two replied.

Shintaro hugged Ichigo, then surprisingly, held his hand out to Kisshu, who shook it. "Kisshu, keep my daughter safe," he said.

"I will, I swear," Kisshu said. Shintaro nodded, and then it was time for Ichigo and Kisshu to leave. They both waved, then teleported to Café Mew Mew. Everyone was already there.

"Sorry if we're late, my parents wanted to say goodbye," Ichigo said.

"That's natural," Pai said. "Okay, here's the plan. We'll teleport into Deep Blue's dimension, and start looking around. We should stay together, so no one gets separated. We don't want him picking us off one by one, or a hostage situation."

"Okay," Ichigo said. "But I've never been there before. How am I going to teleport to a place I've never seen?"

"I can implant the image in your mind," Pai said. "Come over here and close your eyes."

Ichigo obeyed, and Pai put a hand on her forehead. "Can you see it?" he asked.

"Hai," Ichigo said. "I'm ready."

"Ichigo, aren't you going to transform?" Mint asked.

"No, I'll be fine with my sword. The rest of you should transform, though," Ichigo said. The other Mews nodded, and transformed.

"Everyone ready?" Pai asked. The others nodded. "Good," Pai said. "Let's go."

Pai then grabbed Lettuce's hand, Taruto grabbed Pudding, Kisshu grabbed Mint, and Ichigo grabbed Zakuro. Then Ichigo and the Cyniclons teleported into Deep Blue's dimension.

At first there was the usual blue mist, but Deep Blue didn't appear. Suddenly the scenery changed. Now they were standing in the middle of a carpeted hallway. At the end they saw a door. The Cyniclons and Mews looked at each other, than started walking. As they reached the doors, the doors swung open silently.

At first, the light was dim, but it got brighter, and soon they saw what looked like a throne room. Lying on the floor in the middle of the room was a body. As they got closer, they saw that it was Masaya.

"I wonder what this means," Pai said quietly. "Deep Blue would need to keep the human host alive until he awakened. Does that mean he's already been awakened?"

Suddenly Masaya's eyes snapped open, glowing red. He slowly sat up, and snapped his fingers. Then a cage came falling down from the ceiling, and trapped the Cyniclons and Mews!

"HEY! What's with the cage?" Ichigo shouted.

'Masaya' laughed evilly. "I decided to make you fight me one by one, so I could see your true strength," he said. Then a blue light surrounded him, and when it vanished, there was a Cyniclon with ice blue eyes and calf-length black hair in place of Masaya. As the Mews and Cyniclons watched, a large sword appeared in his hand.

"Well, who should go first?" Deep Blue asked mockingly. "I think I'll let Kisshu go first, since he was the leader of the mission." Deep Blue snapped his fingers, and Kisshu was suddenly outside of the cage.

Though startled, Kisshu immediately summoned his Dragon Swords, and got into position. Deep Blue smirked, and teleported behind Kisshu. Kisshu heard the sound, and turned, leaping away as Deep Blue swung his sword in a motion that would have cut Kisshu in half if he hadn't dodged. Kisshu lunged forward, and tried to stab Deep Blue, who put his sword up just in time. Kisshu's blades slid harmlessly off the flat of Deep Blue's sword.

Kisshu snarled and created an energy ball, sending it at Deep Blue, who smirked and formed a shield around himself. The energy ball disappeared as soon as it touched the shield. Kisshu lunged forward again, but this time Deep Blue was ready. As Kisshu got closer, Deep Blue pulled back his sword a bit. Right as Kisshu reached him, Deep Blue lunged forward, and stabbed Kisshu in the stomach!

"_**KISSHU!" **_everyone screamed, but Ichigo screamed the loudest. Deep Blue laughed and sent Kisshu flying off the end of his sword.

Ichigo was in shock. Suddenly, it snapped. Her eyes began to glow light blue. Then she threw her arms out, one to each side. The bars of the cage, as well as the top, disintegrated. Now everyone was free, but they didn't move. Deep Blue had stopped laughing.

Eyes still glowing, Ichigo threw out her right arm, and shouted, "INAZUMA NO YAIBA!" Her Cyniclon weapon appeared in her hand. Then she said in a cold voice, "Prepare yourself, Deep Blue, for the fight of your life."

Deep Blue wasn't smirking anymore. He raised his sword and charged at Ichigo. She dodged, and flew up above Deep Blue, then dived down. Deep Blue raised his sword, attempting to stab her, but she suddenly teleported. Before Deep Blue could figure out where she went, she shouted from behind him, "INAZUMA SENKO!" The attack was dead on, and it hit Deep Blue in the back. He cried out, but was still standing. Ichigo shot another lightning attack at him, which scorched his arm before he could dodge it.

Deep Blue switched his sword to his other hand. Unfortunately for him, Ichigo had seen that coming, and she scorched his other hand before he could grasp the sword. Deep Blue's sword fell to the ground. Seeing a chance in this, Ichigo stalked over to him, and kicked his sword out of reach.

Ichigo smirked and said, "What will you do now?"

Deep Blue snarled and raised a hand, palm up, about to create a Chimera Anima. Just as the parasite appeared, however, Ichigo's lightning attack fried it. Taking advantage of Deep Blue's shock, Ichigo lunged forward before he could lower his arm, and stabbed him, straight through the heart! Then, at the same time, she performed her Inazuma Senko attack, which succeeded in completely obliterating Deep Blue. Now all that remained of the former alien leader was a pile of ash, and a large sword.

Ichigo took a deep breath, and her eyes stopped glowing. Then she let her weapon disappear, and turned to her friends.

Everyone, even Pai, had their jaws on the floor. "Y-you _defeated _Deep Blue?" Pai asked in a shocked whisper.

Ichigo didn't reply. Instead she ran to Kisshu. The others came over to see if they could help, but they soon found out it was too late. Ichigo was sobbing, her tears falling on Kisshu like rain. "WHY?" she wailed. "Why did this happen?"

The others stood there, unsure of what to say. Suddenly Pai looked over at the ashes of Deep Blue, sensing something.

The others, except for Ichigo, looked up as Pai went over to the pile of ashes, and pulled out… A Mew Aqua!

**Don't flame me. Pwease? *gives reviewers the 'imacutelittleneko' face***


	19. Revival

**Brought Together Chapter 19:**

**Revival**

Pai brought the Mew Aqua over to Ichigo and gently put a hand on her shoulder. Ichigo looked up at him. "I found a Mew Aqua," Pai said. "You can use it to bring Kisshu back to life."

Ichigo dried her tears, but said, "What about saving your planet?"

"Don't you all have more Mew Aqua?" Pai asked.

"Oh… right…." Ichigo said.

Pai handed her the Mew Aqua, and said, "Here. Use this one to bring Kisshu back to life."

"Thanks, Pai," Ichigo said. Then she took the Mew Aqua, and placed it on Kisshu's chest, and pushed it into his body.

Everyone watched as Kisshu's body began to glow rainbow colors. The wound on his stomach was starting to heal as well. About a minute after his stomach wound closed, the glow faded as well. Ichigo held her breath, and she was rewarded as Kisshu's eyes started to open.

"Kisshu?" she asked softly.

Kisshu opened his eyes all the way, and said, "Ichigo?"

"Thank goodness you're alive!" Ichigo said.

"What happened? I thought Deep Blue killed me," Kisshu said.

"He did," Pai replied. "After he threw you off his sword, Ichigo's eyes started glowing. Then the cage we were in disintegrated, and Ichigo told Deep Blue to get ready for the fight of his life. She took out her weapon, and single-handedly destroyed him. After that, I found a Mew Aqua among his remains, so I took it and gave it to Ichigo, who used it to revive you."

"Wow, Ichigo, you defeated Deep Blue by yourself?" Kisshu asked in awe.

Ichigo blushed and said, "Yeah, I felt more powerful after I saw him kill you, and I somehow managed to kill him without even getting a scratch. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," Kisshu said. "The Mew Aqua not only brought me back to life, it brought me back to full strength as well."

"That's a relief," Ichigo said. Then she turned to the others. "Let's get out of here," she said.

The others nodded, and Ichigo and the Cyniclons teleported the other Mews back to Café Mew Mew.

Keiichiro and Ichigo's parents were waiting for them, and they ran over as soon as they teleported in.

"Are you all okay?" Sakura asked, worried.

"We're fine, Mom," Ichigo said.

"But Kisshu has blood on his shirt!" Sakura said.

"Actually, I died, but Ichigo used Mew Aqua to bring me back to life," Kisshu said. "I'm fine."

"You _died_?" Sakura asked.

"Mom, there's nothing to worry about," Ichigo said. "As long as Kisshu's fine, that's all that matters, right?"

"I guess so…" Sakura said, coming over and hugging her and Kisshu.

Keiichiro asked, "So, is Deep Blue dead?"

"Hai," Pai replied. "Deep Blue killed Kisshu, and Ichigo seemed to get more power from her emotions after that. She completely destroyed him without any help from any of us."

"That's great," Shintaro said. "Good job Ichigo."

"And you were the one saying you didn't want me to go," Ichigo said. "It turned out it was for the best, though, right minna?"

"Definitely," Pai said. "That was epic, if I may use a human term."

Ichigo grinned. "Thanks, Pai," she said.

**I know it's short, but I'm out of ideas again. I don't want to end it here, so could reviewers PM me or review with ideas?**


	20. A New Journey

**Brought Together Chapter 20:**

**A New Journey**

Now that Deep Blue was dead, the Cyniclons and Mews had some decisions to make. It was important to take the Mew Aqua back to the Cyniclon's planet, but then what? Also, since the Cyniclons had technically betrayed Deep Blue, their people might not be very welcoming when they got back.

Finally Ichigo said, "Well, you can live on Earth if it doesn't work out on your planet. Keiichiro has two extra rooms- right Keiichiro?"

"Hai," Keiichiro said. "But there are three Cyniclons, and I've only got two rooms. What should we do?"

"Kisshu can come live with me," Ichigo said. "Then Pai and Taruto can live here."

"Really, Koneko-chan?" Kisshu asked excitedly.

"Sure," Ichigo said. "My parents won't mind. We have a spare room anyways."

"We have to save our planet before this happens," Pai reminded them. "Keiichiro, can we have the Mew Aqua?"

"Of course," Keiichiro said. He went to the basement, and came back a few minutes later with a bag. "This is all we have," he said. The bag was half full.

"This should be plenty," Pai said. "Kisshu, Taruto, should we go?"

Before they could respond, Ichigo said, "Do you mind if I come?"

"What? Why?" Pai asked.

"Well, since you guys can't have this planet, I thought I should apologize," Ichigo said.

"The other Cyniclons might not be very happy to see a human with us…." Pai said.

"I'm not exactly a human anymore, I'm part Cyniclon and part cat," Ichigo reminded him. "Besides, I'm starting to get Cyniclon traits, didn't you notice?"

"Um… no…" Pai said.

"My eyes have slit pupils now, and my skin's getting paler," Ichigo said. "My ears are the same, though."

Pai looked at her closely. "Y-you're right," he said in shock. "Maybe injecting you with my DNA wasn't such a good idea…."

"I suggested it, and it was for a reason," Ichigo said. "It's not your fault."

"Bringing you back with us could be hazardous for both of us, though," Kisshu said. "Since you're the one who actually killed Deep Blue, the others might kill you if they find out."

"That might not be a problem," Pai said thoughtfully. "I found out that Deep Blue never intended to help our people. If we tell them that he tried to destroy us and Ichigo saved us, they might not be angry with any of us."

"That's true…" Kisshu said. "Ichigo, you're going to have to run this by your parents first."

"Oh, I know," Ichigo said. "Should I go now?"

"Hai," Pai said. "You might want to pack a few things, too. I'm not sure how long we'll be there."

"How long does it take to get there?" Ichigo asked.

"About eight hours," Kisshu replied. "Our ship goes fast."

"You might want to bring something to read or do while we're flying," Pai remarked.

"Okay, I'll go tell my parents the plan," Ichigo said. "Kisshu, maybe you should come too."

"Why?" Kisshu asked.

"I could use some help explaining," Ichigo said. "Besides, it may be your last chance to go through my drawers for a while."

"You'll let me?" Kisshu asked excitedly.

"Better than letting you find my diary again," Ichigo said.

Kisshu drooped. "I don't like diaries…." He said gloomily.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Ichigo said.

Pai and Taruto were confused. "But Kisshu, you _have _a diary," Taruto said.

"I burned it," Kisshu said, still gloomy.

"What happened to you?" Pai asked.

"He read a part of my diary that made him depressed," Ichigo said. "Though if he burned his diary after that, I'd say he's more traumatized than depressed."

"Jeez, what'd you write?" Mint asked, looking at Kisshu.

"I wrote that I actually liked Kisshu, but that I was pretty sure he didn't feel the same way," Ichigo said. "Unfortunately, he read that page."

"And what happened then?" Pai asked. "Whatever it was, it seems to still be pretty upsetting."

"Kisshu asked me if what I wrote was true, and I told him the truth, that I didn't believe he loved me since he was always calling me a toy," Ichigo said. "After that, he broke down and started crying. I slept with him that night, and then my dad came in the next morning and started shouting at us. I called my mom in, and she got my dad out and was very helpful in cheering Kisshu up. Obviously I shouldn't be talking about this incident too much, because Kisshu gets depressed whenever I mention the word 'diary'."

"I can see that," Pai said, looking worriedly at Kisshu, who looked very depressed.

Ichigo walked over and hugged Kisshu, who hugged back. Ichigo started stroking Kisshu's hair as she said, "It's okay, Kisshu. I'm here for you now, and I always will be."

"Thanks, Koneko-chan," Kisshu said, sounding slightly more cheerful.

"Should we go talk to my parents?" Ichigo asked.

"I guess," Kisshu said.

Ichigo smiled and teleported them to her living room. Her parents were watching TV and looked up as Kisshu and Ichigo teleported in.

"What's up?" Shintaro asked.

"We need to heal the Cyniclon's planet, and I want to go with them," Ichigo said. "Can I go?"

"Why?" Sakura asked.

"I think that as the leader of Tokyo Mew Mew, I'm the best person to apologize for not letting the Cyniclons have this planet, and explain that the Mew Aqua will make their planet better than Earth is now," Ichigo explained.

"And what will we tell the school?" Shintaro asked.

"Well, since there's only two days left, tell them I'm sick and could you guys get the summer homework," Ichigo said.

"Oh, right, it's almost summer vacation," Sakura said. "Fine… Be careful, both of you, I want to see you again."

"We will, Mom," Ichigo said. "I'm going to go pack. Kisshu, want to come?"

"Yep!" Kisshu said.

They headed upstairs, and Ichigo said, "I'm getting a suitcase, and my sleeping bag and pillow. I'm going to pack clothes, books and toiletries. Should I bring my pendant?"

"Nah, it might put the others on edge," Kisshu said. "If something happens, you've got your Cyniclon powers."

"Good point," Ichigo said. "I guess if you want, you can go through my drawers, but DON'T make a mess."

"YAY!" Kisshu said happily. Ichigo rolled her eyes and went to get her toiletries from the bathroom as Kisshu opened a drawer in her dresser, and started going through it.

**Okay, I know Ichigo's a little OOC here, but it's because she's trying to cheer Kisshu up. Also, sorry for not updating. I was on WRITER'S BLOCK ISLAND. Pleas review!**


	21. Kisshu's Past and Ichigo's Future

**Brought Together Chapter 21:**

**Kisshu's Past and Ichigo's Future**

After Ichigo finished packing (and dragged Kisshu's attention away from her dresser), she and Kisshu went downstairs to say goodbye to her parents. "Mom, Dad, we're going," Ichigo said when they reached the living room.

Sakura and Shintaro stood up, and Sakura said, "Please be careful, and come back safe."

"We will," Ichigo and Kisshu said together.

Sakura hugged them both tightly. Shintaro hugged Ichigo, then shook hands with Kisshu, and said, "Kisshu, I'm counting on you to keep her safe."

"I will," Kisshu said. "I promise."

Shintaro nodded, and Ichigo and Kisshu waved, then teleported to the spaceship. Pai and Taruto were waiting for them.

"Ichigo, are you ready?" Pai asked.

"Yeah," Ichigo said. "My parents said yes, but they wanted to say goodbye, and I thought that was fair."

"Of course," Pai said. "Our parents did the same when we came to Earth."

"I thought Kisshu said his parents are dead," Ichigo said.

"His are, but Taruto's and my parents took him in after his parents died," Pai explained. "We're not exactly related, but we think of each other as brothers, since we're so close."

"That's great," Ichigo said. "I always wondered what it would be like to have siblings."

"If you and Kisshu get married, we'll be your siblings," Taruto said, causing both Ichigo and Kisshu to blush.

"We should get going," Pai said. "Taruto, you're my copilot."

"Whyyyyy?" Taruto whined.

"Would you prefer to keep Ichigo company?" Pai asked with a smirk.

"NOOOO!" Taruto said. "I'll copilot!" He teleported off.

"Well, that worked," Pai said. "You two have fun, but don't go too far, got it?"

"You sound like my dad," Ichigo said. "Don't worry, we won't."

Pai nodded and teleported off.

"Let's go to my room, and put this stuff down," Kisshu suggested. Ichigo nodded, and they teleported to Kisshu's room. After they put Ichigo's stuff down, they sat on Kisshu's bed. Kisshu was about to say something, but Pai's voice suddenly came over an intercom, and said, _"We're about to take off, so stay seated." _

About a minute later, the floor lurched, and the ship started to move. Ichigo said, "Wow, I can't believe I'll be on another planet soon."

"That's about what I was thinking when I left home," Kisshu said. "I wonder how everyone is doing."

"So do you have any family besides Pai and Taruto's family?" Ichigo asked.

"No," Kisshu said sadly. "My mom died giving birth to me and Ichigo, and my dad died when we were about six. Pai and Taruto's family took us in, but then Ichigo died. I fell into depression after that, and they were really worried about me, because I wouldn't come out of the room I had shared with her. After a while, they suggested I go to the military school Pai and Taruto went to, and train there to help others. I was proud to be sent to Earth; I was hoping that finding a new place to live would help save the lives of my people, who were dying."

Kisshu paused, then continued, "I was confused at first when I met you. I knew it was wrong to fall in love with the enemy, but you were different. I saw what you were like with everyone you met. You were kind, caring and compassionate. When I found out your name was Ichigo, it made me happy and sad at the same time. You had the same name as my sister, and you were a lot like her, at least in personality. Same eyes, too. As time went on, it became harder to fight you, as I fell deeper and deeper in love. The fact that you seemed to hate me really tore me up. It was really, really hard for me to see you with the treehugger. If it wasn't for the mission, I might have fallen into depression again. I'm actually glad that Pai and Taruto were sent to Earth, even though they can be irritating at times. It gave me some company, even though at first they didn't understand my feelings for you. Eventually, they came to see my point of view, as Taruto started to fall for Pudding, and Pai fell for Lettuce, albeit slower than me or Taruto."

Kisshu paused again, and then continued, "I'm glad I didn't just give up on you, Ichigo. You mean the world to me."

Ichigo was nearly in tears. "Kisshu, I wish I had realized your feelings sooner, and returned them," she said. "I wish I hadn't put you through so much pain."

"As long as you love me, that's all that matters now, Koneko-chan," Kisshu said softly. "I love you, with all my heart, Ichigo."

"I love you with everything I have, Kisshu," Ichigo said. "I'm just glad we're together."

"Me too," Kisshu said with a smile. Suddenly his smile faded, and he looked at her closely.

"What's wrong?" Ichigo asked.

"You've got green streaks in your hair," Kisshu said. "Did you do something to it recently?"

"No," Ichigo said. "That's weird. Why would my hair start turning green?"

"Beats me," Kisshu said. "I think we should go talk to Pai."

"O-okay," Ichigo said. She followed Kisshu out of the room, and down a hallway. They stopped at a large green door, and Kisshu pushed a button on the wall. The door opened, and Pai and Taruto looked up, surprised.

"Kisshu, is something wrong?" Pai asked. "You look worried."

"Ichigo's hair is turning green," Kisshu said. "Are you positive you injected her with your DNA?"

"Yeah… I mixed my blood with a special liquid that's supposed to meld two DNAs together," Pai said.

"And you're positive you took the right liquid?" Kisshu asked.

"Yeah. What are you thinking?" Pai asked.

"She's starting to look…. like my sister," Kisshu said softly. "If her hair turned completely green, and she had our ears…. she'd look like Ichigo."

Pai seemed to be thinking, then said, "Kisshu, take over here, I'm taking Ichigo to the lab."

"Okay," Kisshu said hesitantly. Pai got up, and Kisshu took over his controls.

"Ichigo, come with me," Pai ordered. "We need to get to the bottom of this."

Ichigo nodded and followed Pai to his lab. When they got there, Pai said, "I'm going to do a blood test on you, so sit down over here, and hold out your arm."

Ichigo walked over to the chair Pai had pointed out, and sat down. Pai took a needle, and said, "Close your eyes, this won't hurt."

Ichigo closed her eyes, and felt a pinch, but nothing more. Finally she heard Pai say, "Okay, you can open your eyes. Here's a bandage; I'm going to run some tests on your blood. Don't touch anything in here."

"Okay," Ichigo said. She put the bandage over the little prick in her arm, and waited for Pai to be done testing.

She watched him as he looked at her blood. At first his eyes widened, and then he ran over to a cabinet and pulled something out. It looked like a similar vial to the one of the stuff he had injected her with. Then Pai did something surprising. He started hitting himself in the forehead, repeatedly saying, "Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit….."

Finally Ichigo got up her courage and asked, "Um… is something wrong, Pai?"

"YES! I think I injected you with not only my DNA, but ICHIGO'S DNA!" Pai moaned.

"And the reason you had her DNA was….?" Ichigo asked.

"Oh, I have some of my DNA, Taruto's, and Kisshu's. I had some of Ichigo's from before she got sick, because I wanted to study the difference between her blood and Kisshu's, since they were twins, not just mere siblings," Pai said. "However, I'm not exactly sure what Kisshu's going to think of this…"

"That doesn't sound good," Ichigo said. "If _you're _scared, it must be pretty serious."

Pai sighed, and said, "Well, we'll have to tell him sooner or later. By the way, I think your ears are starting to change, too. They're looking pointy at the top."

"Great….." Ichigo said. "Well, I have only myself to blame; I'm the one who insisted you inject me with Cyniclon DNA."

"We should go explain to Kisshu what happened. If he gets mad at me, I suggest teleporting out as fast as possible," Pai said.

"O-okay," Ichigo said. Pai led her back to the control room, and opened the door. Kisshu and Taruto looked up, and Kisshu said, "How did it go?"

"Um…. You're not going to like this, but you were right to ask if I took down the wrong vial of liquid," Pai said.

Kisshu started to look scared. "Wha-what happened?" he whispered.

Pai sighed. "I accidentally injected her with both my DNA- and Ichigo's."

Kisshu's hands slid off the controls in shock. "But- that means-" he started.

"Yes," Pai said. "It means that she will fully become a Cyniclon- and by the way she's looking, it's going to happen soon. Her ears are starting to change."

"What's going to happen now?" Kisshu asked. "We can't exactly take her back to Earth looking like us!"

"We may have to hope that our people will allow us all to live with them," Pai said. "If that doesn't pull through, I'll have to come up with a way to make us all look human."

"What about my parents?" Ichigo asked. "If I start living on your planet, I'll have to tell them first."

"We can go back to Earth and tell them, but if our people decide to let you live with us, you should do it," Pai said. "It won't be easy to explain this to the school you go to, or anyone else for that matter."

"You're right," Ichigo said. "But how are we going to handle it when they see I look like Kisshu's sister?"

"I guess I'll take the blame for that," Pai said. "It may have been your choice to become part Cyniclon, but I am the one who made the mistake of mixing the DNA of two Cyniclons, one of whom is now dead."

"At least you won't have to deal with a different name," Taruto commented. "You're starting to look exactly like Ichigo."

"Yeah…" Ichigo said. "My parents will kill me for this."

"Well, maybe it's better that you come to our planet, then," Kisshu said. "I think we'll be there in a few minutes."

Everyone looked out the window, and sure enough, they were about to reach the atmosphere of Cyniclonia.

**Okay, I think this came out well, but I still want reviews. Things just got WAAAY more interesting, didn't they?**


	22. Explanations

**Brought Together Chapter 22:**

**Explanations**

The Cyniclon's ship hit the atmosphere of Cyniclonia, and it got really bumpy. Finally, the ship evened out, and landed in a large open area.

"Ichigo, leave your stuff here," Pai said. "We can get it later, if the elders let us stay."

Ichigo nodded, and followed Pai, Kisshu and Taruto off the ship. Pai led the way to a trap door near a large boulder, and opened it. "Let's go," he said to the others. The four of them climbed down, and into a large open area, which was surprisingly filled with Cyniclons. Ichigo noticed that even Pai looked nervous now, and that really didn't help her out, either.

After a moment, a very old Cyniclon came forward, and Kisshu, Pai and Taruto bowed, Ichigo immediately copying them.

The old Cyniclon said, "Kisshu, would you care to explain why we haven't heard from Deep Blue in a while?"

Kisshu gulped, but said, "Deep Blue, we found out, had no intention of helping us. He wanted the Earth for himself, and when we failed to capture it, he attacked us. It was only with the help of the group Tokyo Mew Mew that we managed to keep him from destroying us all."

The Cyniclons looked shocked. "So…. he was just using us?" the old Cyniclon in front of them said.

"Hai," Kisshu replied.

"And what about the group you mentioned?" the old Cyniclon said.

"Tokyo Mew Mew was created to oppose us, but we formed a truce with them, in order to obtain the means to save _this _planet, rather than taking Earth," Pai said. "Earth is extremely overpopulated, and it would be very hard to live there."

"Why did Tokyo Mew Mew agree to form a truce?" the Cyniclon asked.

"Their leader became close with Kisshu, who also had very strong feelings for her," Pai replied. "Together, she and Kisshu convinced both our groups to cooperate."

"Is it possible to meet her? I would like to covey my gratitude," the old Cyniclon said.

"Yes, actually, she's standing behind me," Pai said. He then moved aside, revealing a very nervous Ichigo, whose appearance was greeted by a bunch of gasps and Cyniclons saying, "It can't be…"

Kisshu took over from Pai, and said, "You all are right, this is not my sister. This is Mew Ichigo, the leader of Tokyo Mew Mew."

"But- she's one of us!" a voice in the crowd said.

Kisshu sighed and said, "Pai, would you care to explain what happened?"

"Hai," Pai replied, then continued, "Mew Ichigo used to be part human, and part cat. However, Kisshu fell ill, and when she found out that my healing powers weren't working, she insisted that I inject her with my DNA. However, while I injected her with my DNA, I also accidentally injected her with the DNA of Ikisatashi Ichigo. I take full responsibility for this, and I recognize that I made a grave mistake. Mew Ichigo is now almost fully Cyniclon."

"This also presents a problem," Kisshu said. "We have no way of turning her back into a human. If it's possible, we would like to give her the opportunity to live on this planet, so she doesn't have to go back to Earth like this. The humans are not the most understanding of creatures."

"I can see no harm in that, but what about her human family?" the old Cyniclon asked.

"We would go back and tell them the news, of course," Pai assured him. "We wouldn't just take her away from them."

"If you can really revive the planet, and assure that there will be food for all, you may also invite Mew Ichigo's parents to live here, if they wish," the old Cyniclon said. "May I ask you a few questions, Mew Ichigo?"

"Hai, and you're welcome to just call me Ichigo," Ichigo said.

"Very well, Ichigo," the Cyniclon said. "You may call me Kuro-sama. Now, I would like to know a bit about your parents, for starters, since I am giving them the option to live with us."

"My parents are both very nice people," Ichigo said. "My dad, Shintaro, can be very overprotective, and it takes him a while to get used to people, especially people around me. He's very caring, though, and is usually very gentle with others. My mom, Sakura, is probably the nicest person you'll ever meet. She's very sweet and accepting, and she's gentle as well. She's also a really great cook, and loves helping others with their problems."

"_Your _dad? GENTLE?" Kisshu asked. "Are we thinking of the same person?"

Ichigo sighed, and said, "He's only rough with you. He thinks I'm not ready for a boyfriend, and he wants me to stay young a while longer. He doesn't think I'm old enough to make my own decisions, and that's why he's a little rough with you. Besides, he's accepted you by this point."

"Maybe…." Kisshu said.

Kuro-sama had been watching this exchange with a puzzled expression, but now he said, "They sound like nice people, but perhaps we should keep boys away from your father, if Kisshu is scared of him."

"As long as the boys aren't looking to date me, I think he'll be fine, and besides, my mom has him wrapped around her finger," Ichigo said. "All she has to do is put a hand on his shoulder, and he deflates."

"Very well," Kuro-sama said. "That was really all I needed to know. I just wanted to make sure your parents were good people."

"I can assure you that they are," Ichigo said.

Kuro-sama turned to Pai and said, "How do you propose we go about healing the planet?"

**Yes, I know, a cliffie. I'll post more tomorrow, and that might be it for a while, since I'm about to move, and it might take a while to get the Internet connection set up. Sorry, and please review!**


	23. Saving Cyniclonia

**Brought Together Chapter 23:**

**Saving Cyniclonia**

_Recap: "How do you propose we go about saving the planet?" Kuro-sama asked Pai._

Pai replied, "We brought back the Mew Aqua, and it has the power to heal anything. It even can bring back life that was lost. We have enough to heal the planet with us. I can show you, if you wish." Pai picked up the bag at his feet, and said, "If you come outside, I can show you its power."

The other Cyniclons looked a little uncertain, but followed Pai, Kisshu, Taruto and Ichigo outside. Once outside, Pai opened the bag and took out the load of Mew Aqua. "This may be more than we need," he said. "I think we only need four pieces, one for each direction; East, West, North and South. Ichigo, since you gave us the Mew Aqua, would you like to help us restore this planet?"

"I would be honored to help, Pai," Ichigo said. "What do I need to do?"

"It's just like when you revived Kisshu," Pai said. "You push the Mew Aqua into the ground, and at the same time, wish for the planet to be healed."

"Okay," Ichigo said. Pai handed a piece of Mew Aqua to her, one to Kisshu, one to Taruto, and kept one.

"Okay, Ichigo, turn south, Kisshu, turn west, Taruto, turn east, and I'll take the north," Pai said. "On my signal, we'll all push our piece of Mew Aqua into the ground and wish for the planet to be healed."

Kisshu, Ichigo, and Taruto all obeyed, turning in the direction they were given. "Now!" Pai said, and the four of them pushed their pieces of Mew Aqua into the ground, all thinking, _I want this planet to be healed. _

A bright light flashed, and everyone covered their eyes. When they looked up, they were awed by what they saw. They were standing in a field of flowers, on the edge of a thick forest. There was a river nearby, the water clear and sparkling. The air was clean and crisp, and there was a gentle breeze. The two suns shone down warmly, and overhead, a pair of birds glided by.

The first to speak was Kuro-sama, and he said, "This is truly a miracle. Thank you for saving us, Kisshu, Ichigo, Pai and Taruto."

"We couldn't have done it without the Mew Aqua," Pai said. "We're just glad it worked."

"I think we should start creating a place to live for all of us," Kuro-sama said. "We should start building soon."

"That is a good plan, but before the four of us can help, we must return to Earth and inform Ichigo's parents of what happened," Kisshus said. "They should know sooner, rather than later."

"Agreed," Kuro-sama said. "And don't forget to tell them that they are welcome to come live here too."

"We won't," Pai assured him. "We should get going, we'll be back as soon as possible."

"Very well, good luck," Kuro-sama said.

"Thank you," Pai said. He nodded to Kisshu, Ichigo and Taruto, and said. "Let's go."

The four of them returned to the ship, and got on board. "Taruto, you're copiloting again," Pai said.

"Fine," Taruto said.

Pai and Taruto teleported to the control room, leaving Kisshu and Ichigo alone. "I'm nervous about telling all this to my parents," Ichigo admitted.

"Well, if they truly love you, and from what I've seen, they do, they'll understand and want what's best for you," Kisshu said. "Let's go back to my room, we'll be taking off soon."

Ichigo teleported to Kisshu's room with Kisshu not far behind, and they sat down on his bed. "I'm kind of tired," Ichigo said. "What time is it on Earth?"

Kisshu looked over at a clock on the wall, and said, "It's about 11 PM in Tokyo. We should get there tomorrow morning around 6, and then we can go to your parents' house. Do they usually get up early?"

"Sometimes," Ichigo said. "I'm sure they'll hear us though, so we shouldn't worry about it too much."

"Okay," Kisshu said. "Maybe we should get some sleep, I'm kind of tired too."

"Okay," Ichigo said. "Where should I sleep?"

"We could sleep together," Kisshu said with a smirk.

"Fine, but no funny stuff, I know that look on your face," Ichigo said.

Kisshu sighed, but said, "Fine." He got into the bed, and Ichigo curled up next to him. Soon they were both asleep.

Kisshu was woken up about seven hours later by Pai shaking his shoulder. "Get Ichigo up, we're here," Pai said when he saw that Kisshu was awake.

"Oh, fine," Kisshu said, and turned to Ichigo. "Ichigo? We're here," he said as Pai teleported out.

Ichigo yawned and sleepily opened her eyes. "Okay," she said. "Let's go to my house; we've got a lot of explaining to do. Should we ask Pai to come?"

"Might be a good idea, he'd be the best one to explain this," Kisshu said. Ichigo nodded, and they teleported off to find Pai. He was in the control room still, and looked up as they walked in. "Pai, we think you should come and explain what happened," Kisshu said. "You'd be better at it than either of us."

"Fine… Let's go then," Pai said. The three of them teleported to Ichigo's kitchen. To their surprise, both Sakura and Shintaro were there. They looked up, startled.

"Hi Kisshu, hi Pai, where's Ichigo?" Sakura asked.

"Standing next to me," Kisshu replied.

Sakura and Shintaro's jaws dropped. "I-Ichigo, what happened to you?" Shintaro asked.

"I think Pai would be the best one to explain this," Ichigo said.

Pai sighed, and said, "You are both aware that I injected my DNA into Ichigo upon her request, correct?"

"Yeah…" Shintaro said.

"Well," Pai said nervously, "I made a mistake. I had intended to inject Ichigo with my DNA alone, as well as some of a potion that would help her body adjust. Instead, I accidentally took down the wrong vial. What I injected her with was my DNA- and that of Kisshu's twin sister's. Due to that, Ichigo is now almost completely Cyniclon. That's why she looks this way."

"Is there any way to reverse this?" Sakura asked.

"Unfortunately, no," Pai said. "The DNA of a human is weaker than our DNA. Originally, I thought that I had injected her with only enough of my DNA to grant her new powers. It is now becoming clear that the DNA I injected her with has taken over her human DNA, to the point where it would be life-threatening to extract the Cyniclon DNA."

"What are we going to do? We can't send her out into our world looking like that, everyone will think she's part of the group that attacked Tokyo," Sakura said.

"Well, because we healed our planet, and explained that Deep Blue was only using us, the leader of our people, Kuro-sama, has extended an invitation to Ichigo, to live on our planet, since she is responsible for giving us the means to save it," Kisshu said.

"Does that mean we won't get to see her anymore?" Sakura asked.

"Not necessarily," Pai replied. "Kuro-sama also said that if you both wish, you could come live with us as well, since you are Ichigo's parents."

"I'm not so sure…" Shintaro said.

"Well, I think we should do it," Sakura said. "I'd miss Ichigo too much, and I'd also really miss Kisshu."

"You'd miss me?" Kisshu asked.

"Yes," Sakura said. "I enjoy having you around, especially since you and Ichigo are so close."

Shintaro's jaw was on the floor. Sakura looked at him, smiled, and said, "You know that this is for the best, Shintaro. Admit it, you couldn't live without at least Ichigo, and I know you're getting rather attached to having Kisshu around as well…."

Shintaro actually turned pink, and said, "Fine… I'll go too…."

"See, I told you he didn't hate you, Kisshu," Ichigo said.

Kisshu was actually speechless.

**Okay, that's another chapter. And I'm sorry, but I might not update for a few days, since I'm moving into a new place, and won't have Internet for a few days. Sorry! Please review!**


	24. More Explanations

**Brought Together Chapter 24:**

**More Explanations**

"Pai, what should we bring with us?" Sakura asked.

"I think you'll need clothes, toiletries, and sleeping gear," Pai said. "You might want to bring food as well, we don't currently have a lot of it."

"Should we tell the other Mews about this?" Kisshu asked.

"Probably a good idea," Pai said. "Kisshu, you go with Ichigo to explain what happened. I'll help these two with packing."

"Okay," Kisshu said. He nodded to Ichigo, and the two of them teleported off.

They landed in the kitchen of Café Mew Mew, and Ichigo called out, "Keiichiro?"

"Coming!" they heard from the main room. Keiichiro came into the kitchen, and stopped dead. "I-Ichigo? Is that you?" he asked, shocked.

"Hai," Ichigo said. "Can you call the other Mews together? I've got news."

"S-sure," Keiichiro said. He left, and about five minutes later, he came back and said, "Okay, they're on their way."

Some time later, the front door opened, and Mint, Lettuce, Pudding and Zakuro came in. They all gasped when they saw Ichigo standing next to Kisshu. "What _happened_?" Mint whispered in shock.

"Pai made a mistake," Ichigo said. "I'm a Cyniclon now."

"Ichigo, what was the news you were talking about?" Keiichiro asked. The others were too shocked to speak.

"I'm going to live on the Cyniclon's planet," Ichigo said. "As you can see, I'm not human anymore, and the leader of the Cyniclons has offered to let me and my parents live with them. I came to say goodbye, since I can't take you with me."

"Why na no da?" Pudding asked.

"Kuro-sama said only my parents could come," Ichigo explained. "Besides, you all have families here. You all are at least partially human. I'm not. I'm sorry, but I have to do this, minna."

"But you're our leader," Mint said. "What will we do without you?"

"Well, there's really no reason for Tokyo Mew Mew anymore, since the Cyniclons aren't attacking," Ichigo said. "Besides, if something comes up, we could come back to help."

"But-" Mint started.

Ichigo interrupted, saying, "Look, this is something I have to do. I'm not human anymore, and I can't go back. I'll really miss you guys, but you know that as a Cyniclon, I can't live on Earth."

Mint started to argue again, but Zakuro put a hand on her shoulder, and said, "Mint, Ichigo is right. If she lived here, she'd spend her life in hiding, or in jail for attacking Tokyo. If she goes to the Cyniclon's planet, she'll be free. I'll miss her too, but this is for the best."

Mint sniffed, then hugged Ichigo tightly. "I'll miss you," she said.

Ichigo hugged back and said, "I'll miss you too, Mint."

The other Mews came and hugged Ichigo one by one. Even Keiichiro gave her a hug. Finally, Ichigo said, "I have to go. I'll miss you all!"

"Bye!" the other Mews and Keiichiro said.

Ichigo and Kisshu nodded, and teleported back to Ichigo's house.

When they arrived, Pai looked up and said, "Good, you're back. We're about done here, so could you help me teleport this stuff to the ship?"

"Sure," Ichigo said. "Where are my parents?"

"They're on the ship, and this is the last of the stuff they want to take," Pai said. "I think it's mostly food."

"That's a lot of food," Ichigo said, looking around at the bags on the floor.

"Well, when I told your mother that we didn't have a lot of food on our planet currently, she insisted on going shopping, and then sent your father out to do more once she got back," Pai said. "I'd say we've got enough to feed an army by this point."

"That's my mom for you," Ichigo said. "I guess we should get these bags to the ship." She picked up a bunch of bags, and Kisshu and Pai did the same. They looked around, and saw that there was nothing left. "Hey, did my parents pack anything from my room?" Ichigo asked.

"Oh yeah," Pai said. "Your mom spent quite a bit of time in there, and made your dad pack their stuff."

"We should get going," Kisshu said. "Is this everything?"

"Yep," Pai said. They then teleported to the ship. "Let's put all this in the kitchen," Pai said.

The three of them teleported to the kitchen, and put the food down. "Where do you think my parents are?" Ichigo asked.

"We're right here," Sakura said from behind them. "This ship is very nice. Taruto gave us the tour."

"We should be leaving soon," Pai said. "I suggest you all go sit down somewhere. Taruto, you're copiloting again."

"Oh, fine," Taruto said. The two of them teleported off.

"Kisshu, should we go to your room?" Ichigo asked.

"Sure," Kisshu said. "I guess your parents should come too."

"Okay," Ichigo said. "Mom, Dad, we should go before the ship starts."

"Sure," Sakura said. "Lead the way."

"I thought we could teleport," Kisshu said.

"Oh, right," Ichigo said. She grabbed Shintaro's hand, while Kisshu grabbed Sakura's shoulder. The two of them teleported Ichigo's parents to Kisshu's room, just as Pai said over the intercom, _"We're taking off, so sit down." _

Ichigo and the others sat down. "Wow," Sakura said. "I never expected to be going to another planet."

"Now that we used the Mew Aqua on it, Cyniclonia is really pretty," Kisshu said. "There's still a lot to do, though. We got permission to leave, but they need everyone who is able to help build new homes. It'll be good to get back."

"What can we do to help?" Sakura asked.

"You'd have to ask Kuro-sama, he's our leader," Kisshu said. "I'm certainly not the one in charge; that'd be a disaster."

Ichigo giggled. "You'd hate being in charge, right?"

"No, but it would make me very nervous," Kisshu said. "Besides, I'm too young for that kind of responsibility."

"How old are you, Kisshu?" Shintaro asked.

"I'm fourteen, a year older than Ichigo," Kisshu said.

"And they sent you to Earth alone to take it over?" Sakura asked. "That's a lot of responsibility for someone so young…"

"I was the best warrior on our planet," Kisshu said. "A lot of my people were sick or too weak from the lack of food to train for the army, but I was strong enough, and it turned out to be good that I joined the military, because it took my mind off my sister's death."

"Your sister is dead? I'm so sorry!" Sakura said.

"Thanks," Kisshu said quietly. "My parents died as well. A lot of my people died. We didn't have enough food, and a lot of people got sick, like my sister. I'm so glad we formed a truce with the Mews, since we got the Mew Aqua. Now my people can live."

"What was your sister's name, if you don't mind me asking?" Shintaro asked.

"Her name was Ichigo, and she was a lot like your Ichigo," Kisshu said. "By the way, don't be surprised if strangers come up to Ichigo and call her by name; she looks exactly like my sister."

"That must be strange for you, since your girlfriend looks exactly like your sister," Sakura commented.

"I think it will be even stranger for those who knew my sister," Kisshu said. "I know this Ichigo isn't my sister, since I witnessed her transformation, but others are going to have a harder time with this, I think."

"We'll get through it," Ichigo said. "I'm more worried about people accepting my parents than me, since I'm a Cyniclon and they're not."

"We'll be fine," Sakura said. "I'll keep Shintaro under control, if that's what you're worried about."

"That was part of it," Ichigo said. "We don't need the overprotective side coming out too much."

"I know," Sakura said. "If we want to live here, we have to make sure we don't do anything that might offend others." She gave Shintaro a significant look.

"Fine…. I won't get too overprotective," Shintaro said.

"I can take care of myself, Dad," Ichigo said. "After all, I can fight too, and Kisshu has a habit of keeping other boys away from me."

"I get the picture," Shintaro said. "I can't protect you the way Kisshu can anyways."

"Kisshu, is there anything you think we should know before we get there?" Sakura asked.

"I think you just need to be polite," Kisshu said. "Kuro-sama might explain more, but for now, you just need to settle in and not call attention to yourselves. Some of my people might be a little uncomfortable around humans, but no one will go against Kuro-sama's word. He's very well respected."

"Okay," Sakura and Shintaro said.

Suddenly Pai's voice came over the intercom, and said, _"We're about to enter Cyniclonia's atmosphere, so stay seated. We'll land soon."_

**Sorry I took so long, I didn't have Internet access for quite a while after I moved, but I spent my time thinking up new ideas for this story. I know this was filler, but I hope you'll all review it and the next few chapters as well!**


	25. Decisions to be Made

**Brought Together Chapter 25:**

**Decisions to be Made**

Soon after Pai's voice faded, the ship got pretty bumpy. After a bit it evened out, and with a final bump, they landed. Then Pai teleported into Kisshu's room and said, "We should leave the stuff here, we have to talk to Kuro-sama before we start unloading."

"Okay," Ichigo said. "Come on, Mom and Dad."

Sakura and Shintaro nodded, and followed Ichigo, Kisshu, Pai and Taruto off the ship. Almost as soon as they got off, a young couple, about the age of Ichigo's parents, came running up. "Kisshu, Pai, Taruto! How are you? We haven't seen you in ages!" the female said.

"We're fine, Mom," Pai said. "How's it going here?"

"Things are coming along nicely," the male Cyniclon said. "We've already got some buildings up. But we've been ordered to take all of you to Kuro-sama. What's going on?"

"We have some guests," Pai said. "Weren't you here when we came back the first time?"

"No, what happened?" the female asked.

"It's kind of a long story, so if Kuro-sama wants to see us, maybe we should talk to him first," Pai said.

"Oh, right," the male said. "Come with us."

Pai nodded to the others, and they followed him and his parents. Pai and Taruto's parents led them to a small building, and said, "You should go in, we were told to lead you here and go back to work."

"Thanks, Mom and Dad," Pai said. Then he went into the building, followed by Kisshu, Taruto, Ichigo, and Ichigo's parents.

When they got inside, they saw Kuro-sama waiting for them. Kisshu, Pai, Taruto and Ichigo bowed, Sakura and Shintaro copying them.

Kuro-sama smiled and said, "Welcome. Ichigo, these are your parents?"

"Hai, Kuro-sama," Ichigo said. "This is my mom, Sakura, and my dad, Shintaro."

"Well, it's very nice to meet both of you, Sakura and Shintaro," Kuro-sama said.

"Thank you," Sakura said. "It's an honor to meet you as well."

Kuro-sama nodded, and said, "I'm assuming you would like to know more about this planet's way of life, so I'll try to explain some of it. For starters, you should know that we rarely use surnames or suffixes like -san, -kun, or -chan. The only ones who add those on are the elders, like me, and sometimes their children. Therefore, unlike on Earth, you will be called by your given names. It's customary for us."

"That's fine with us," Shintaro said. "I never liked suffixes anyways."

Kuro-sama smiled slightly, and continued, "As of right now, the males of our people are working on the building projects, so I'll get someone to show you the ropes, Shintaro. The females are doing a lot of the sewing and getting ready to move into the new buildings. Sakura, Ichigo has informed me that you are an excellent cook, so I would like to have you work in the temporary kitchens."

"I don't know about being excellent, but I like cooking, and I actually brought a lot of staple food items with me," Sakura said. "Pai checked the ingredients, and apparently everything I brought is edible to your people."

"You brought us food?" Kuro-sama asked, surprised.

"We don't want to be a burden on you," Sakura said. "I also brought a bunch of cookbooks and kitchen utensils."

"Thank you, Sakura," Kuro-sama said. "Before I go on, may I ask what else you brought?"

"It's mostly clothes, but we brought some other things, like toothpaste, soap, toothbrushes, our hairbrushes and combs, and shampoo," Sakura said.

"You wouldn't _believe _how many toothbrushes she made me buy," Shintaro said.

"Shintaro, they're not just for us," Sakura said. She turned to Kuro-sama and said, "I made him buy a lot because I wasn't sure what your people might need besides food. I heard that your planet was pretty bad before Ichigo gave you the Mew Aqua."

"We are in pretty short supply of most of the things you mentioned," Kuro-sama admitted. "You have my gratitude."

"I'm happy to help," Sakura said. "I wasn't able to afford some things, like sleeping gear, so I only packed ours, but I packed up all the blankets and comforters in the house, so you're welcome to have those for your people as well. I tried to come prepared."

"You certainly came more prepared than we expected," Kuro-sama said. "I'm impressed."

Sakura smiled.

Kuro-sama smiled back, then said, "Ichigo, I have a question. If you were the leader of Tokyo Mew Mew, you must be pretty powerful, correct?"

"I'm not sure about that, but in any case, I can't use my Mew powers anymore. I can use my Cyniclon powers, though," Ichigo said.

"Hmm… Kisshu, you were the one who trained Ichigo to use her new powers, correct?" Kuro-sama asked.

"Hai," Kisshu said.

"What level would she be on?" Kuro-sama asked.

"I'd say level 5, a level below me," Kisshu said. "She's a very fast learner, too."

"Can you create Chimera Animas?" Kuro-sama asked Ichigo.

"No, but Pai said he thinks I'm capable of learning," Ichigo said.

"Do you have a weapon?" Kuro-sama asked.

"Hai, the Inazuma no Yaiba," Ichigo said. "Kisshu and Pai taught me how to use it properly."

"What capabilities does it have?" Kuro-sama asked.

"It can shoot lighting at a target, and I can control it, Pai taught me," Ichigo said.

"And you can fly and teleport," Kuro-sama said. Ichigo nodded.

"Well, if you're a level 5 warrior in Kisshu's opinion, then I think I'll put you in the expeditionary force, with Kisshu," Kuro-sama said. "Level 5 is the second highest level that a Cyniclon warrior can achieve, and if you made it that far in such a short amount of time, I'd say you'd be better off in the fighting force rather than the worker force. It would be a shame to waste talent like that on building."

"What is the expeditionary force?" Ichigo asked.

"It's just a group of Cyniclon warriors who are going to explore the new forests and areas around what will be our village," Kuro-sama said. "I think it will give you more scope for your talents than building houses will."

"I agree," Kisshu said. "If anything happens, we could use someone with Ichigo's skill."

"That's fine with me," Ichigo said. "I like the woods anyways."

"Good," Kuro-sama said. "I should warn you, there won't be any females in this group. It's been over fifty years since a female warrior has even reached level four, and that's the minimum level for being in an expeditionary force."

"I'm sure I'll manage," Ichigo said.

"That's a good attitude, since some males might be skeptical," Kuro-sama said. "I have an idea if they get to be a problem, however. Considering I've heard your sword skills are excellent, I think you might be able to beat Kisshu. If I call the force together, will you two hold a practice match?"

Ichigo and Kisshu's jaws dropped.

**This is getting interesting….**


	26. Practice Match

**Brought Together Chapter 26:**

**Practice Match**

Kisshu came out of shock and said, "You want me to fight Ichigo?"

"It's just a practice match," Kuro-sama said. "I want to make sure the other males realize that Ichigo is qualified to go on missions with you."

"Um… If my blade touches Kisshu's, it could paralyze him temporarily," Ichigo said. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"You could both fight with practice swords, but I think this is a good idea," Kuro-sama said. "Besides, Ichigo, you have the power to heal, right?"

"Oh… yeah…" Ichigo said.

"Fine…" Kisshu said.

"I'll go call the force together, and we'll meet in the training room of your ship," Kuro-sama said. "Pai and Taruto, please take Sakura and Shintaro to your parent's place, I'd like them to stay there for the time being. Kisshu, Ichigo, you should go find some practice swords."

"Hai," they all said, and parted ways. Ichigo teleported back to the ship with Kisshu. Once there, Kisshu led Ichigo to a room she hadn't been to before.

"This is the armory," Kisshu explained. He watched as Ichigo looked around. "This is where we keep all the spare weaponry we need for battle, and where we keep practice swords and other practice weapons."

"There's a lot here," Ichigo said. She went over to a wall of swords and picked one up. "This one feels light enough," she said. "It actually feels similar to mine."

"That's good, you should choose something you feel comfortable with," Kisshu said. He had picked out a pair of blades that looked similar to his Dragon Swords, just without the blue stones in the hilts. Kisshu looked at Ichigo, sighed, and said, "I guess we should go to the training room now."

Ichigo sighed too, and nodded. The two of them teleported to the training room, where they found Kuro-sama and a group of males waiting for them. "We're waiting for Takoi, and then everyone will be here," Kuro-sama said. Almost as soon as he said this, a male Cyniclon teleported in.

"Everyone's here," Kuro-sama said. "Will one of you referee this match?"

"Hai," a male Cyniclon said. "Am I explaining the rules as well?"

"Hai," Kuro-sama said.

"Okay," the Cyniclon said. Then he called out, "Take your positions in the middle of the room."

Ichigo and Kisshu did so, and the male called out, "The rules are simple. Whoever disarms their opponent first wins. You may do whatever you want to disarm your opponent. Are both contestants ready?"

"Hai!" Ichigo and Kisshu said.

"Then you may begin the match!" the Cyniclon called out.

Ichigo and Kisshu both lunged forward, swords out. Suddenly Kisshu flew up, and dived at Ichigo, who dodged, causing Kisshu to have to teleport before he hit the ground. Ichigo sensed him teleport behind her, and flew up. Kisshu followed, and Ichigo spun around in midair, just as Kisshu lunged forward. Ichigo brought up her blade, and blocked Kisshu's strike. Kisshu pulled away, and Ichigo flew back a bit, then lunged forward. Kisshu blocked her strike, and teleported behind her. She heard the sound, and teleported to the ground. Then she flew back up, and teleported behind Kisshu, who turned. As he brought one blade up, Ichigo thrust her sword through the prongs of Kisshu's blade. She then twisted her sword, and Kisshu was forced to let go of the blade, or get a broken wrist. The blade fell to the ground. The onlookers gasped. Ichigo lunged at Kisshu again, and he brought up the other blade, lunging forward himself. Ichigo teleported to the side, and as Kisshu brought up his blade again, hearing the teleportation, Ichigo used the same move she had on his other blade, wrenching the second blade out of Kisshu's hand. The second blade fell to the ground, landing next to its partner.

The referee, though obviously shocked, called out, "This match is over! Ichigo wins!" Ichigo and Kisshu both landed on the floor, both gasping for breath. Except for Kuro-sama, everyone's jaws were on the floor.

When she caught her breath, Ichigo said, "Well, that was interesting. Good fight, Kisshu."

"Thanks, Koneko-chan," Kisshu said. "You were amazing, none of these guys have ever beaten me." He nodded to the other young males in the room.

"You mean until just now you were undefeated?" Ichigo asked, surprised.

"Yep," Kisshu said. "That's why they're all in shock."

Ichigo blushed and said, "I didn't really expect to win. Maybe I just got lucky."

"That's probably why you won, you weren't overconfident. Others get overconfident sometimes when they fight me, but up till now, no one's ever beaten me," Kisshu said.

The other Cyniclons were starting to come out of shock. The referee was the first to fully recover from the fight, and he said, "Um… are you sure she's level 5? Looks more like some undiscovered level, if she can beat Kisshu."

"Well, maybe…" Kisshu said.

"Um… I don't really think I'm any better than Kisshu, I think I just got lucky," Ichigo said.

"Well, it seems you're definitely qualified to go with the males on missions," Kuro-sama said.

"They look scared," Ichigo said. "I don't want people to be scared of me, just because I beat Kisshu once."

Kuro-sama looked at the others thoughtfully. "Maybe having this practice battle wasn't one of my better ideas," he admitted. "They're all pretty shocked."

"I think I agree," Ichigo said. "I'd rather have people underestimate my skill than be scared of me."

"If word of this gets out, we're in trouble," the referee spoke up unexpectedly. "Not only will everyone be scared of Ichigo, but Kisshu's reputation would be ruined."

"I'm more concerned about Ichigo than my reputation," Kisshu said. "Kuro-sama, what should we do?"

"This is a problem," Kuro-sama said. "We can't exactly ask everyone in here not to talk about what happened, it'll get out sooner or later anyways. Also, if we keep it quiet, people will get suspicious, and start drawing conclusions. And if people find out how good Ichigo is, she'll either be stalked or avoided."

"Stalking I can handle, but I don't like being avoided," Ichigo said. "I don't want to be all alone."

Kuro-sama turned to the other males in the room. "Well, does anyone have suggestions?"

"We might as well let this play out," one male said. "If things start getting bad, we call a town meeting and decide what to do about this. We don't know for a fact that people will be scared of Ichigo; I think some people will even be pleased that she's giving Kisshu a run for his money. If we see that she's getting stalked or avoided, we have the Elder Council step in, and the problem will be solved. Everyone respects the Council, and no one would go against Kuro-sama's word."

"You have a good point there, Shiro," Kuro-sama said. "Alright, that's what we'll do. However, I do expect those of you here not to shout this from the rooftops. Ichigo doesn't need publicity, especially considering her parentage and past."

"Hai!" the others all said. Suddenly one male, shorter than the rest, said, "Not to be disrespectful, Kuro-sama, but what did you mean by Ichigo's 'parentage and past'?"

"Were you not around when she first came back with Kisshu, Pai and Taruto?" Kuro-sama asked.

"Um… no," the male said.

"It's up to Ichigo if she wishes to share this or not," Kuro-sama said.

"Well, since I'm going to be a part of the team, I might as well," Ichigo said. Then she sighed. "I wasn't originally a Cyniclon," she said. "I was the leader of the team sent to oppose Kisshu, Pai and Taruto when they came to Earth. I used to be half human, half cat. However, Pai and Taruto took me to their base after one of the battles I had with Kisshu, because he had collapsed, and they thought I had something to do with it."

"Wait, so this isn't the first time you fought Kisshu?" the male who had asked about her past said.

"No, but it's the first time I fought him one on one, since when I was fighting for Earth, he always used Chimera Animas, rather than his swords," Ichigo said. Then she continued, "It turned out that what I had said to Kisshu during that battle caused him to go into shock, and he got sick from that. Pai explained that Kisshu wasn't lying about loving me, and I decided that I'd take care of him while Pai was working. However, when Kisshu got sick, Pai's healing powers weren't working for some reason."

Ichigo paused, then said, "I told Pai to inject his DNA into me, so I could gain the power to heal. And I did gain the power to heal. I healed Kisshu, and we formed a truce to save your planet, rather than having them take Earth."

"Wait, so why are you a Cyniclon if Pai only gave you new powers?" the male who had refereed asked.

Ichigo replied, "I started to gain Cyniclon traits a while after I healed Kisshu, but when my hair- which used to be red- started turning green, Pai did a blood test on me, and discovered he had made a mistake. Instead of his DNA and a potion to help my body adjust to the new powers, he had injected me with his DNA and that of Kisshu's twin sister, Ichigo. That's why, according to Pai, I turned into a Cyniclon. My parents are still human, but I'm a Cyniclon now."

"That's incredible," the short male said. "I didn't know Pai was capable of making mistakes."

Ichigo giggled. "He was probably kind of distracted at the time, so you can't really blame him," she said.

"Koneko-chan, why was Pai distracted while doing something that important?" Kisshu asked.

"Oh that's right, you were still unconscious when that little incident happened," Ichigo said. "Pai went to get Taruto to watch you in case you got worse. He told Taruto he'd be in his lab with me if something happened. Then Taruto said, "Doing what? I thought you liked Lettuce."

Kisshu burst out laughing. Ichigo giggled too, then noticed everyone was looking puzzled. "In case that didn't make any sense, Lettuce was a member of my team, Tokyo Mew Mew," she said. "We were very good friends, and Pai fell in love with her."

"So Taruto thought Pai was going to do something perverted to you?" another male asked.

"I think Taruto was just teasing," Ichigo said. "He wanted to get a reaction out of Pai- and it worked."

"What did Pai do?" the short male asked.

"He turned red, and said, "I am not Kisshu." Then he explained that he was going to inject me with his DNA, and told Taruto to go watch Kisshu," Ichigo said.

"What did he mean by 'I'm not Kisshu'?" another male asked.

Kisshu abruptly stopped laughing. Ichigo looked puzzled. "He meant he wasn't going to do anything perverted to me," she said.

"Why would he think Kisshu would do something perverted to you?" the referee asked.

Ichigo turned to Kisshu. "Kisshu, did you only act like that around me?" she asked. "These guys obviously have no clue what I'm talking about."

Kisshu started to look a bit nervous. Meanwhile, the others were getting more confused by the minute.

When it became clear that Kisshu wasn't going to say anything, Ichigo sighed and said, "Never mind, it's nothing. Just Kisshu playing games with me. I know he likes to tease, but he wouldn't do anything perverted to me."

"Okay…." the others said.

Kuro-sama then said, "Okay, I think it's time we got back. Remember, no shouting about Ichigo's victory from the rooftops."

"Hai, Kuro-sama," everyone said. Then they all teleported out.

Kuro-sama nodded to Kisshu and Ichigo, who bowed, and then he teleported out as well.

This left Kisshu and Ichigo alone.

**Bad chapter ending, I know. Please don't flame me for having Ichigo beat Kisshu. Ichigo's really on a roll, though, first she kills Ryou and Deep Blue, and now she beat Kisshu in a sword match. **


	27. Settling In

**Brought Together Chapter 27:**

**Settling In**

"So what should we do now?" Ichigo asked Kisshu.

"Maybe we should go tell our families about this," Kisshu said. "I just hope you beating me doesn't become a problem."

"Well, Kuro-sama said he'd help if it did," Ichigo said. "I hope my dad doesn't start bragging, though."

"We'll tell him that he's not allowed to," Kisshu said. "I'm sure he'll understand."

"Okay," Ichigo said. "Should we go find our families?"

"Good idea," Kisshu said. He and Ichigo teleported off the ship, and went to find Ichigo's parents.

They finally asked one Cyniclon where they could find Pai and Taruto's family, since that's where Ichigo's parents were staying. She told them, and they headed off. Finally they reached the house where they were living. Kisshu knocked, and the door was opened by Pai.

"Come in," Pai said. "How did it go?"

"Well, it wasn't too great," Kisshu said. "Is everyone here? We should tell you all what happened."

"Sure," Pai said. "I'll go get them."

Soon everyone was gathered in the main room. "So what happened? You look pretty serious," Sakura asked.

"Well, I beat Kisshu, but that turned out to be a bad thing," Ichigo said.

Pai, Taruto, and their parents looked shocked. Sakura and Shintaro were confused. "Why is it a bad thing?" Shintaro said.

Pai's mother, Yuki, responded, "Kisshu has been undefeated up till now. If Ichigo beat him, it means a lot of people will be scared of her. All our people know that Kisshu has never been defeated, and that someone who could defeat him must be very powerful."

Pai's father, Hayao, continued, "We'll need to keep this as quiet as possible. I'm sure that Kuro-sama said the same. That means we shouldn't be bragging about Ichigo's skill. If we get too open about this, Ichigo might be in difficulty, because people will either act like she's too special, or avoid her altogether. I know that you are proud of her, Sakura and Shintaro, but you shouldn't mention this to others, unless you want Ichigo to be feared."

"I understand," Sakura said. "Shintaro, you need to keep this quiet as well, understand?"

"Hai," Shintaro said. "I won't say anything."

"Good," Yuki said. "You two also don't need a lot of publicity. Ichigo will get some publicity, since she looks like Kisshu's sister, but the two of you should keep a low profile."

"Kuro-sama said we would keep this as quiet as possible, but if word gets out and Ichigo starts having problems, the Elder Council will call a town meeting," Kisshu said. "We thought that was a good idea."

"I agree," Hayao said. "I must say that holding a practice battle was not one of Kuro-sama's better decisions, though."

"That's what he said," Ichigo said. "The other males looked pretty scared after I beat Kisshu."

"I hope it won't become a problem on missions," Yuki sighed.

"So do we," Ichigo said, nodding toward Kisshu.

Suddenly there was a knock on the front door. Kisshu went and opened it, revealing a girl about Ichigo's age. She looked up at Kisshu, and said, "My little sister claims Ichigo came back to life. Is that true?"

Kisshu sighed. "No, it's not," he said. "Pai simply turned my girlfriend into an exact replica of Ichigo. It doesn't really help that my girlfriend's name is Ichigo, though."

"Well, well, so the great Pai _can _make mistakes," the girl said. Then she noticed everyone except Pai was staring at her. "Oh, sorry, I should have said hi," she said.

Kisshu said, "This is Hana, she was my sister's best friend. Hana, this is my girlfriend, Ichigo, and her parents, Sakura and Shintaro."

"It's nice to meet you," Hana said. "Wait… Sakura, Shintaro, what happened to your ears?"

"Hana, you didn't hear the news?" Taruto asked.

"What news, chibi?" Hana asked with a smirk.

"I'M NOT A CHIBI!" Taruto shouted. "I guess Pai can explain this one."

Pai sighed, and said, "Hana, Ichigo's parents are human; that's what's wrong with their ears."

"Why would humans have a Cyniclon for a daughter?" Hana asked, puzzled.

"Ichigo used to be human too, but I made a mistake and turned her into a Cyniclon," Pai said.

"Pai, it's not totally your fault," Ichigo said. "I was the one who told you to inject me with your DNA."

"Ichigo, why would you want to have Pai's DNA?" Hana asked.

"Kisshu got sick, and when Pai told me his healing abilities weren't working, I told him to inject me with his DNA so I could get the same powers," Ichigo said. "Unfortunately, he accidentally injected me with Kisshu's sister's DNA as well."

"Well, that explains why you look exactly like her," Hana said. "This won't be easy to explain to my little sister…"

"Was your little sister close with Ichigo?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah," Hana said. "Ichigo and I would babysit her while my mom was working. Emi- that's my little sister- loved Ichigo."

"Ichigo might not see much of Emi, Hana," Kisshu said. "She's been chosen for the expeditionary force, like me."

Hana's jaw dropped. "Y-you must be really good," she said. "What level are you?"

"Um… 5, I think," Ichigo said.

"That's incredible!" Hana said. "We haven't had a female warrior that good in over fifty years."

"Great… now everyone will think I'm weird," Ichigo said. "I'd prefer being average."

"If you were average, we wouldn't have met, Koneko-chan," Kisshu said. "I'm glad you're special."

"I think the only good thing about being special on Earth was meeting you and the other Mews," Ichigo said.

"I'm glad you think meeting me is a plus now," Kisshu said. "I just wish we had gotten together sooner."

"Me too," Ichigo said. "I'm still sorry that I didn't realize your feelings sooner."

"All that matters to me is that we're together now," Kisshu said.

They both jumped when Hana, who had listened to the whole thing, said, "Ichigo, why didn't you realize Kisshu loved you? He's usually pretty open about that kind of thing."

"He was always calling me his toy, so I didn't really believe that he loved me," Ichigo said. "I actually started to get feelings for him a while before we got together, but I didn't tell him because I thought that I was only a toy to him."

Kisshu sighed sadly. Ichigo turned and said, "Kisshu, I'm sorry if that brought back bad memories."

"Bad memories?" Hana asked.

"I wrote in my diary that I liked Kisshu, but that I didn't think he felt the same," Ichigo said. "Unfortunately, he read my diary."

"KISSHU! Why would you read her diary!? That's private!" Hana shrieked.

Kisshu just sighed again. Ichigo noticed, and went over to him. Then she hugged him. "Like you said, all that matters is that we're together, right?" she said softly. "Sorry I brought this up."

Kisshu hugged her back. "I'll leave you two alone," Hana said. "I have to go find some way of explaining to Emi that Ichigo hasn't actually come back from the dead."

"It was nice to meet you, Hana," Ichigo said.

"You too, Ichigo," Hana said. "Bye!" She left.

**Well, I've got some new OCs. Yuki and Hayao probably won't play a huge part, but Hana might get a bigger part. Plz Review!**


	28. New Friends

**Brought Together Chapter 28:**

**New Friends**

The next week was pretty uneventful for Ichigo and Kisshu. However, Ichigo was becoming friends with Hana, who had started to come over a lot. The girls really liked each other, and they had fun together. Hana didn't have a lot of free time, since her job was, along with a few other girls, to watch the Cyniclon children, like her sister Emi. Hana came over when she could, though, so the two girls got to spend at least some time together.

Ichigo and her parents were learning a lot about the world they lived in. Shintaro had begun work on the buildings the Cyniclons needed, and it turned out he was really good at it. He explained that his father had been a carpenter, and he had learned some carpentry when his father was still alive.

Sakura was fitting in well too. She was an amazing cook, and her recipes were a big hit with the Cyniclons. The other Cyniclon women in the kitchen were very happy with her, especially since she had brought most of the food they were eating. She got along with everyone there, and was really enjoying herself.

Ichigo and Kisshu were still spending a lot of time together, since they hadn't been called up for any missions yet. They practiced fighting skills together and with the other members of the expeditionary force, who had mostly gotten over their shock about Ichigo beating Kisshu.

One day, Hana brought Emi over to the house Ichigo's family shared with Kisshu, Pai, Taruto, Yuki, and Hayao. This was so that Hana could explain that Ichigo was not the Ichigo Emi used to know.

This did not go as planned. Ichigo opened the door in response to Hana's knock, and was promptly tackled to the ground by a little girl about the height of Ichigo's knee. Hana came in next, and picked up the little girl, saying, "Emi, what did I tell you about tackling people?"

"No tackling…" Emi said sadly. "But Ichigo doesn't mind!"

"My cousins used to do that to me," Ichigo said. "I actually am kind of used to it."

"You're not helping," Hana said. "Emi, what do you say when you tackle someone?"

"Sorry," Emi said.

"That's okay, Emi," Ichigo said.

"Ichigo, when did you get cousins?" Emi asked.

Before Ichigo could reply, Hana said, "Emi, this is a different Ichigo. This isn't Kisshu's sister."

"Since when?" Emi asked. "You said Ichigo had to go away, and now she's come back!"

"Go away?" Ichigo asked, puzzled.

Hana sighed, then said to Emi, "Go find Kisshu, I have to talk to Ichigo, okay?"

"YAY!" Emi said, and ran off.

"What was that about?" Ichigo asked when Emi was out of sight.

Hana replied, "Emi was only three when Ichigo died. She didn't understand the concept of death, so when Ichigo died, and she didn't understand where Ichigo was, I said that Ichigo had to go away, and wasn't coming back. Unfortunately, she still doesn't understand the concept of death, even though I've explained it many times. She believes that Ichigo has come back, and I'm not sure she'll ever really realize that you're a different Ichigo."

"Um… I'm not sure what you think of this, but what if I pretended to be Ichigo?" Ichigo asked.

"I don't think it's a good idea," Hana said a bit sadly. "Emi will have to learn that you're not really Kisshu's sister, and it's not going to help if you pretend to be Ichigo. It's a nice idea, but Emi should be learning reality, not pretend."

"You're probably right," Ichigo said.

Suddenly, from upstairs, the girls heard Kisshu shout, "Hana! Get this maniac off me!"

Ichigo and Hana looked at each other, and ran for the stairs. When they reached the room Kisshu was sharing with Ichigo, they saw Kisshu on the floor, with Emi clinging to him.

"Emi! What did I tell you?" Hana said.

"To go find Kisshu while you talked to Ichigo!" Emi said happily.

"NO! I told you to stop tackling people!" Hana said sternly.

"Hana, WHY did you tell her to find ME!?" Kisshu asked. "Emi, stop that!" Emi was starting to tickle him.

"Emi, come over here, and leave Kisshu alone for a while," Ichigo said.

"Okay!" Emi said, and promptly ran over to Ichigo and held her arms up. Ichigo was a bit confused at first, but then realized that Emi wanted to be picked up, so she picked her up. Emi happily wrapped her arms around Ichigo's neck, and said, "Love you, Ichi!"

"Love you back, Emi!" Ichigo said. Then she noticed Kisshu's jaw was on the floor, and Hana had one hand over her face. "What did I do?" Ichigo asked.

"I think I'll let Kisshu explain this one," Hana said. "Emi, it's time to go home!"

"I don't want to," Emi said. "I want to stay with Ichi!"

"Do you want lunch?" Hana asked.

"Yeah!" Emi said excitedly.

"Well, lunch is at home, so let's go," Hana said. Ichigo, getting the message, put Emi down, and said, "See you later, Emi!"

"See you later!" Emi said happily, and skipped off. Hana waved and followed.

Ichigo turned to Kisshu, and said, "So, what was that about? You acted kind of strange when I said, "Love you back, Emi!"

Kisshu sat down on the bed and sighed. "You might want to sit down too, this is a bit complicated," he said. Ichigo sat down next to him, and waited.

Kisshu sighed again, then said, "What you said to Emi is exactly what Ichigo used to say to her. Every time Emi would say, "Love you, Ichi!" Ichigo would say, "Love you back, Emi!" Hana and I were actually a bit shocked to hear that from you, since you're not my sister, and you never knew her."

Kisshu paused, then continued, "I'm sure Hana has told you that Emi doesn't understand the concept of death, and that she believes that Ichigo will come back someday. To Emi, you're the Ichigo she knew a little over a year ago, and after today, I don't think we'll ever be able to change her mind. That could be a problem, since you don't know the things my sister did to calm Emi, or play with her, or say to her."

"I'm sorry," Ichigo said. "I didn't know that, I was just trying to be nice to Emi. She's really sweet."

"She is, isn't she?" Kisshu said with a smile. "Despite the fact that she tackles basically everyone she meets, she's a really sweet kid with a big heart." Suddenly his smile faded, and he looked worried.

"Kisshu, what's wrong?" Ichigo asked.

"I just remembered that Emi had a habit of following Ichigo everywhere she could," Kisshu said. "If we start going on missions soon, what if she tries to follow you?"

Ichigo started to look worried too. "That would be really bad," she said. "Let's hope that Hana keeps an eye on her. We might want to inform Hana anytime we have a mission, so that she knows to keep a close eye on Emi."

"That sounds like a good idea," Kisshu said. "I hope it'll be enough."

**Can you guess what I'm thinking? Review and tell me!**


	29. The First Mission

**Brought Together Chapter 29:**

**The First Mission**

A few days after Ichigo met Emi, Kuro-sama called the expeditionary force together. Once everyone was there, Kuro-sama said, "One of the males we sent out to cut wood hasn't come back, and no one knows where he is. I want you all to search the forest thoroughly, and report back if you find anything."

"Who was it that went missing?" asked Choji.

"It was Kawaguchi Mamoru," Kuro-sama replied. "Now, go!"

"Wait," Kisshu said. "Ichigo and I have to warn Mikani Hana that we're going, or her sister Emi might try to follow Ichigo."

"I'll send someone to warn Hana," Kuro-sama said. "You need to go find Mamoru."

Kisshu and Ichigo bowed, as did the rest of the force, and teleported to the edge of the forest. Once everyone was there, Kisshu, who was the leader, said, "Okay, let's split up into groups of three. There's twelve of us, so that's four groups. The first group will be Takashi, Shoji, and Shiro. The second group will be Shinji, Takoi, and Konimori. The third group will be Shunko, Arashi, and Tano. And the fourth group will be me, Choji, and Ichigo. Let's move out!"

"Hai!" the others said, and all teleported off to different parts of the forest. Kisshu, Ichigo, and Choji started near the edge of the forest, and started walking. They continued for about an hour, before taking a break near a stream, and getting some water. Suddenly, Takashi, the leader of the first group teleported in and said, "We found Mamoru. But he's dead!"

"WHAT!?" Kisshu shouted. "Take us there, now!" Takashi nodded, and showed them the way. When they reached the place Takashi was talking about, they saw a gruesome sight. There was blood pooled around a very mangled body, and leading away from the body were strange tracks. The tracks were of some animal, with only three large claw marks, and a diamond-shaped indent behind them. "I've never seen an animal track like this," Kisshu said.

"This isn't a good sign," Shoji said. "If there are dangerous wild animals out here, we might have a harder time getting what we need."

"We should bring the other groups here," Kisshu said. "Ichigo, Choji, and I will stay here so that you can find us easier."

"Got it," Takashi said seriously, and teleported off, followed by Shoji and Shiro.

"I guess we should just wait until they get back," Kisshu said. "Keep your guard up, both of you."

Ichigo and Choji nodded.

Fifteen minutes later, the other groups still weren't back. Suddenly, Kisshu, Ichigo and Choji heard a loud, high-pitched scream.

They looked at each other, worried. The scream came again, and this time, Ichigo cried, "Oh no, it's Emi!"

Kisshu and Choji looked at her in horror. Then Kisshu said, "Choji, stay here and tell the others what happened, Ichigo and I will go save Emi."

"Hai!" Choji said.

Ichigo and Kisshu teleported to the sound, and what they saw was scary. A monstrous animal that looked kind of like a type of saber-toothed cat was standing in front of Emi, ready to strike. Just before the cat-thing brought its claws down, Ichigo teleported and grabbed Emi, then teleported back to where she had been standing, while Kisshu got out his Dragon Swords and flew at the cat-thing.

Ichigo tried to get her sword out, but Emi was clinging too tightly to her, and she couldn't move around enough to get the sword, much less attack. "Emi, you have to let go now, I need to help Kisshu," Ichigo said softly.

"Will you come back?" Emi asked.

"I'll always come back," Ichigo said. "Now, go hide nearby, and the others should be here soon."

"K," Emi said, and Ichigo set her down. Then Ichigo took out her sword, and ran toward the cat-thing.

Suddenly the cat spoke! "You are defiling my forest!" it growled.

Kisshu was so shocked, he stopped dead. The cat saw this as a chance, and quickly lashed out with one paw, slicing Kisshu's chest and slamming him into a tree. Kisshu fell to the ground, unconscious and bleeding.

Before the cat could strike again, Ichigo shouted, "Inazuma Senko!" She blasted the cat away from Kisshu, and while it was still recovering, she screamed telepathically, _CHOJI! GET THE OTHERS HERE, QUICK! _Choji replied, _We're on our way, hang tough._

The cat was picking itself up as Ichigo cut the connection. Ichigo watched the cat's movements, then lunged forward just as the cat tried to swipe a paw at her. She ducked under the swipe, and sliced the cat's paw clean off. The cat howled, and fell, shaking the ground. Ichigo flew up above it, and shouted, "INAZUMA SENKO!" She put a lot of power behind the attack, and the cat was incinerated, just as the rest of the expeditionary force burst into the clearing.

Choji was in the lead, and he held up a hand to halt the others as Ichigo landed and ran to Kisshu. "This is really bad," she told the others. "I need a power transfer from one of you, or Kisshu might not make it."

Choji came over and took the hand Ichigo offered to him, pouring his strength into her. Ichigo nodded in thanks, and got to work healing Kisshu's injury. Twenty minutes later, Ichigo took a deep breath and said, "Okay, the wound is healed, but he lost a lot of blood, and I'm not sure when he'll wake up, either. Takashi, Choji, take him back to our house and tell whoever's there that I'll be back soon. Shinji, Shiro, go get Mamoru's body, and take it back for a proper burial. The rest of you, go report what's happened to Kuro-sama."

"Ichigo, what about you?" Choji asked.

"I have to take Emi home. Where is she?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm here," Emi said, coming out from behind a tree and walking to Ichigo. Ichigo picked her up as the others teleported off.

"Emi, that was a very dangerous thing to do," Ichigo said. "When I'm on a mission, that's one time you can't follow me, okay? I don't want you to get hurt, and I'm sure Hana's worried sick by now."

"I'm sorry," Emi said. "I promise not to follow you on missions anymore. Can I still follow you around the village?"

"As long as you tell Hana where you're going, and listen if she says no," Ichigo said. "Now, let's get you home." Ichigo teleported to Hana and Emi's house and knocked on the door. It was opened by the girls' mother, Yume. "Oh, thank goodness, you found Emi," Yume said with relief. "Where was she? I thought you were on a mission."

"I was," Ichigo said. "I think Emi tried to follow me, because we heard her screaming, and saved her from being eaten by this giant cat thing."

Yume's hand flew to her mouth, and she said, "Emi tried to follow you? I'm so sorry!"

"Well, at least we got rid of the thing that tried to eat her, so hopefully there won't be any more problems with it," Ichigo said. "I had a little chat with Emi, and she won't follow me on missions anymore- right Emi?"

"Right!" Emi said.

"I have to go now, Kisshu's in pretty bad shape," Ichigo said. "Please tell Hana I said hello."

"Of course," Yume said. "I can't thank you enough for saving Emi."

"Just please try to have Hana or someone keep a closer eye on her, that's all the thanks I need," Ichigo said.

"I will," Yume said. Ichigo nodded and teleported home.


	30. Kisshu's in Trouble

**Brought Together Chapter 30:**

**Kisshu's in Trouble**

Ichigo teleported back home after talking to Yume, and went in immediately. Her parents, Pai, Taruto, Yuki, Hayao, and Choji were all in the main room when she walked in. They looked up at her as she walked over.

"How's Kisshu?" she asked.

"We put him upstairs in the room you share, and he's still unconscious," Pai said. "You did a good job on healing his injuries, but I'm not sure when he'll wake up; I think he's actually in a coma."

Choji lowered his head. "I'm sorry I didn't get the others there sooner," he said. "Maybe Kisshu wouldn't be this way if I had gotten there faster."

"Don't blame yourself, Choji," Ichigo said. "Kisshu will get through this, he's strong. However, I may need to stay with him for a while, so I would appreciate it if you could tell Kuro-sama that Kisshu is in a coma and I need to stay here. Also tell him that for the time being, I suggest that you be in charge, but that he's free to pick one way or the other."

"You want me to be in charge?" Choji asked, shocked.

"I think you'd be good at it," Ichigo said. "You did a good job during the incident today, getting the others there. If Kuro-sama says it's alright, though, I expect you to remember that Kisshu and I will be back."

"I will remember, I give you my word," Choji said.

"Good," Ichigo said. "Now, I suggest you go to Kuro-sama as soon as possible, since there might be more missions soon, and we need all of you to be ready."

"Hai, I will go now," Choji said. He teleported off.

Ichigo turned to the others, who were staring at her. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"You're really becoming a leader, Ichigo," Pai said.

"Well, I am Kisshu's second in command, so I have to have some leadership skills, especially in situations like this," Ichigo said.

"The others in the force really listen to you, I'm impressed," Hayao said.

"Thanks, but I'm really not any better than they are, they just believe I am," Ichigo said.

"When I imagined you growing up and having a job, I didn't expect it to be a military position," Shintaro commented.

"Dad, I don't think you even wanted to imagine me growing up," Ichigo said. "I'm going to go see Kisshu, so I'll see you all later."

"Okay," the others said. Ichigo nodded and went upstairs.

She went into the room she shared with Kisshu, and walked over to the bed. She put a hand on Kisshu's forehead, and closed her eyes, trying to feel the problem. Suddenly her eyes snapped open, and she got an idea. She put one finger on Kisshu's forehead, like the time Pai had tried to wake Kisshu up. Her finger started to glow, and she tapped his forehead once. She was relieved to see his eyes open slowly, and focus on her.

"Ichigo? What happened? Why do I feel so weak?" Kisshu asked.

"Don't you remember? You got attacked by that cat-thing, and it slammed you into a tree," Ichigo said.

"Cat-thing? And there aren't any trees around here, there haven't been since before our parents were born," Kisshu said.

"Kisshu, are you feeling okay? We have different parents, don't you remember?" Ichigo asked.

"No we don't, we're twins. I'd say you're the one who's not feeling well, but I don't really feel that great either," Kisshu said.

Ichigo's eyes widened, and she whispered in shock, "Kisshu… don't you remember me?"

"Of course, you're my sister," Kisshu said, puzzled. "Why would I forget you?"

Ichigo suddenly stood up and ran out, leaving Kisshu very confused.

Ichigo ran downstairs, and found her parents on the sofa in the main room. They looked up, startled, and Ichigo said, "Where's Pai?"

"In the kitchen," Sakura said. "What's wrong?"

"I need to talk to him," Ichigo said, and ran to the kitchen. Once there, she saw Pai, and ran over.

"Ichigo, what's wrong? Did something happen to Kisshu?" Pai asked.

"I think he has amnesia," Ichigo said. "I used that technique you showed me to wake him up, and he woke up. I don't think he was actually in a coma. But when I told him what happened to him, he said that there haven't been trees on this planet since before 'our' parents were born. So I told him we had different parents, and he said, "No we don't, we're twins."

Pai's eyes widened. "This is really bad," he whispered. "He thinks you're his sister, and that it's a few years ago. We've got to go figure out if there's some way to reverse this."

Pai ran upstairs and Ichigo followed. The two of them ran to Kisshu and Ichigo's room, where they found Kisshu still awake.

Kisshu looked like he was about to say something, but Pai interrupted, saying, "Kisshu, tell me how old you are."

"Pai, you know how old I am," Kisshu said. "You and Ichigo are both acting weird. You're not getting sick, are you?"

"Just tell me," Pai said.

"I'm ten years old," Kisshu said. "Do you mind explaining why you're acting like this?"

Pai turned to Ichigo, and said, "You were right, he does have amnesia."

"Amnesia?" Kisshu asked. "I have no clue what you're talking about. I'm fine!"

"If you think you're ten years old, you're not fine," Pai said. "You're fourteen, and this isn't your sister, this is your girlfriend, who I accidentally turned into an exact replica of your sister."

"Pai, did you drink that weird stuff out of Uncle Hayao's closet again? Cause you're acting like you did that time," Kisshu said.

"Weird stuff out of Uncle Hayao's closet?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah, don't you remember?" Kisshu asked. "Pai found a bottle of this weird gray liquid, and he drank it, and he started acting like a lunatic. I ended up having to knock him out, because he was following you around like a lovesick puppy, trying to kiss you."

Ichigo looked at Pai, who was turning dark red, and started laughing. "Pai, did you really do that?" she asked.

"Hey, I was only ten!" Pai said.

"When I was ten, I would never have just taken a bottle out of my parent's closet, much less drink the whole thing," Ichigo said.

"But Ichigo, you ARE ten," Kisshu said.

"We have to find some way of getting your memory back, Kisshu," Pai said. "Ichigo, go tell my parents that Kisshu has amnesia, and that they need to go speak with Kuro-sama right away."

"Hai," Ichigo said. She went downstairs, and back to the kitchen, where she found Yuki. "Yuki, we've got a problem," she said. "Kisshu has amnesia, and Pai and I need you to go to Kuro-sama and tell him, while we figure out some way of bringing his memory back."

"Kisshu has _amnesia_?" Yuki asked, shocked.

"Yeah, he thinks he's ten years old," Ichigo said. "Will you go to Kuro-sama?"

"Hai, I'll go now," Yuki said. She teleported off, and Ichigo went back upstairs.

She found Pai sitting next to Kisshu, who was sleeping again. "I put him to sleep," Pai said. "Now we need to find a way to reverse the amnesia."

"What do you suggest?" Ichigo asked.

"Let's combine our powers, and focus on healing his mind," Pai said. "Put your hand on his forehead."

Ichigo obeyed, and Pai put his hand over hers. "Okay, now just like the first time you healed him, try to sense where the problem is," Pai said.

Ichigo closed her eyes and concentrated. Finally she said, "The part of his brain just above his left ear looks damaged. Let's try healing that."

"Got it," said Pai. He combined his powers with hers, and she focused on seeing the damage to Kisshu's brain heal. It took a while, but she finally said, "It looks like the damage is gone. Let's wake him up and see if it worked."

"Okay," said Pai. He tapped Kisshu's forehead, and Kisshu slowly woke up.

"Pai? What's going on, and why do I feel so weak?" Kisshu asked.

"Kisshu, how old are you?" Pai asked.

"Fourteen, why?" Kisshu said.

"What's your nickname for your girlfriend?" Pai asked.

"Koneko-chan," Kisshu said.

"That's a relief," Ichigo said.

"Koneko-chan? What are you two talking about?" Kisshu asked.

"Up till about a minute ago, you thought you were ten years old and I was your sister," Ichigo said.

"You mean I had amnesia?" Kisshu asked.

"Yep, and you told me a very interesting story about Pai," Ichigo said, snickering.

"Which one?" Kisshu asked.

"Something about Pai drinking a bottle of gray liquid, and then acting like a lunatic and trying to kiss Ichigo," Ichigo said.

"Oh, that one," Kisshu said. "Boy, looking back, that was really funny."

"I agree," Ichigo said. "Pai turned dark red, and that was pretty funny too."

Kisshu started laughing too, but then started coughing. When he stopped, he asked, "What happened after I got knocked out? I feel really weak."

"I defeated the cat-thing, and healed the injury, but you lost a lot of blood," Ichigo said. "You're going to need to rest for a while. I told Choji to tell Kuro-sama that the force would have to manage without you and me until you're better, so don't worry about that. Yuki went to tell Kuro-sama that you had amnesia, and I guess someone should tell him we healed you. Pai, can you handle that?"

"Hai," Pai said. He teleported out, leaving Kisshu and Ichigo alone.

"I hate lying in bed all day," Kisshu said.

"I know you like being active, but until you're back to full strength, you have to stay in bed or in the house," Ichigo said. "If it wasn't for Choji giving me more power, you might be dead. It might take longer for you to recover than that time on Earth."

"I'm kind of hungry," Kisshu said. "What were we having for dinner?"

"I think my mom was teaching Yuki how to make fried rice," Ichigo said. "Do you want me to see if I can get you some?"

"Sure," Kisshu said. "I'm not sure I can sit up though."

"I'll help you," Ichigo said. "I'll go see what I can get for you, k?"

"Okay," Kisshu said. Ichigo smiled at him and went downstairs.

**I admit it, my imagination ran away with me again. I hope you'll still review, and not flame me.**


	31. Fever

**Brought Together Chapter 31:**

**Fever**

Ichigo came back to Kisshu with a plate of fried rice, and said, "I got some for you."

Kisshu tried to sit up, but soon learned that he couldn't even push himself up on his elbows, much less fully sit up. Ichigo put the plate to one side, and helped Kisshu sit up. She then leaned him against the headboard of the bed, and asked, "Do you think you can eat, or should I help you?"

"I'm not sure I can use chopsticks," Kisshu admitted. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Ichigo said. "Open up." Kisshu obeyed, and Ichigo started to feed him the fried rice. About halfway through, however, Kisshu sighed.

"I'm not really hungry anymore," he said. "It was really good though."

"Okay," Ichigo said. "You should get more sleep, it'll help you recover." She helped him lie back down and pulled the covers over him. Soon after, Kisshu was asleep, and Ichigo quietly got up, and took the plate downstairs.

The others were relaxing in the main room, and they looked up as Ichigo came in. "How's Kisshu?" Yuki asked.

"He's asleep," Ichigo replied. "He ate some of this, but then said he wasn't hungry anymore."

"When do you think he'll be back to full strength?" Pai asked.

"I think it's going to be quite a while," Ichigo admitted. "He can't even push himself up right now, much less sit up."

"I told Kuro-sama that we healed his amnesia," Pai said. "He said that you may take as much time as you need to help Kisshu recover."

"That's a relief," Ichigo said. "I'm glad we reversed the amnesia, though, that could have been bad."

"I agree," Pai said.

"I'm going to go check on Kisshu, so I'll see you later," Ichigo said. The others nodded, and Ichigo teleported off to Kisshu's room.

When she got there, what she saw worried her. Kisshu's cheeks were flushed, and as she watched, he started coughing. She went to his side and put a hand on his forehead. She almost immediately took her hand away. Kisshu was burning up.

_This is bad, _she thought. _He's too weak to fight off a sickness. _Suddenly she had an idea. She sat down next to Kisshu, and put one hand on his chest and the other on his forehead. She concentrated, feeling how to cure the fever. Suddenly her eyes snapped open. _This fever might be more than I can handle, _Ichigo thought, worried. She got up and teleported downstairs to find Pai.

He was in the main room, and looked up. "What's wrong, Ichigo?" he asked.

"Kisshu has a really bad fever," Ichigo said. "I'm not sure I can handle it alone. Will you help me?"

"Of course," Pai said. "Let's go."

The two of them teleported to Kisshu's room, and went over to the bed. Kisshu was still sleeping. Pai put a hand on his forehead, and his eyes widened. "We should do this quickly," he said. "He's in very bad shape."

Ichigo nodded, and sat down on one side of the bed. Pai sat down on the other, and Ichigo placed one hand on Kisshu's chest and the other on his forehead. Pai did the same, and both closed their eyes. Then they combined their powers, focusing on healing Kisshu's fever. Suddenly Kisshu started gasping for air. Pai and Ichigo poured more power into their healing, and Kisshu's breathing returned to normal. Then Pai and Ichigo went back to trying to bring Kisshu's fever down, which was proving very difficult.

Eventually they managed to get the fever down a few degrees, but it was still there. "I'm going to go get the medicine," Pai said. "We both obviously don't have enough power to deal with this. Try to wake him up, I'll be back soon."

"Got it," Ichigo said. She started trying to wake Kisshu up as Pai teleported out. After shaking him didn't work, she tried the healing trick Pai had shown her. That seemed to work, but she had to do it twice before Kisshu was actually awake.

When Ichigo saw that Kisshu was awake, she said, "Kisshu, Pai's getting the fever medication for you."

"I feel awful," Kisshu said weakly.

"I'm not surprised, your temperature was nine degrees above normal and it took almost everything Pai and I had to get it down to two degrees above normal," Ichigo said. "That's why Pai's getting the fever medication. We don't have enough power left to completely cure you."

Just then, Pai teleported in with a bottle and a spoon. "Kisshu, I'm giving you two spoonfuls this time," he said. "I think it'll help."

"Okay," Kisshu said weakly.

Pai tipped some of the medicine onto the spoon, and held it out to Kisshu, who swallowed it. Pai then gave him another spoonful. Kisshu swallowed that too, and said, "I'm tired."

"Go to sleep, then," Ichigo said. "You need to rest to recover."

Kisshu was asleep soon after, and Pai left the room, Ichigo following. "After that fever, we're going to need someone to watch him 24/7," Pai said. "Let's go tell the others, and we can work out shifts."

"Okay," Ichigo said. The two went downstairs, and were met by Sakura, Shintaro, Yuki, Hayao, Taruto, and surprisingly, Kuro-sama.

"How is Kisshu?" Kuro-sama asked.

"He's in very bad shape," Pai said. "It took almost everything Ichigo and I had to get his fever down, and it's still not completely gone. He's still very weak, too. He can't even push himself up. I gave him some of the fever medication, and I'm hoping that will help. We need to have someone on call day and night, because he's in such bad shape it's dangerous to leave him alone for too long."

"I understand," Kuro-sama said. "I'm guessing you want people to take shifts watching him, so I'll let all of you who live here off work until Kisshu is better. Please keep me informed on how he's doing."

"I will," Pai said, bowing. "Thank you, Kuro-sama."

Kuro-sama nodded, and the others bowed as well, as Kuro-sama teleported out.

Pai turned to the others and said, "Okay, we need to figure out shifts. I think someone besides me or Ichigo should take the first shift; we just used nearly all of our power to bring Kisshu's fever down."

"That's fine, but where is Ichigo going to sleep?" Sakura asked. "They share a room."

"I'll sleep on the sofa in here," Ichigo said. "Pai, how long should our shifts be?"

"I'd say three hours," Pai said. "Taruto, will you take the first shift?"

"Sure," Taruto said. "Who's after me?"

"I think that we should have an order, so it'll be Taruto, Sakura, Mom, Shintaro, Dad, Ichigo, and me," Pai said. "If Kisshu gets worse or something happens, call either myself or Ichigo."

"Hai," the others said. Taruto then teleported up to Kisshu's room, and sat down to watch him.

"Ichigo, you should get some sleep," Pai said. "I'm going to do the same." He turned to the others. "Wake one of us up if something happens," he said.

The others nodded, and Pai and Ichigo went off to get some sleep.

**Well, this isn't good. Kisshu's in very bad shape. Plz don't flame me!**


	32. Recovering

**Brought Together Chapter 32:**

**Recovering**

A week later, Ichigo, Pai and the others were still taking shifts watching Kisshu. His fever was finally gone, but he was still extremely weak. Ichigo and Pai warned the others not to upset Kisshu in any way, since getting worked up would be bad for him in his current condition.

Over the past week, several Cyniclons had come over. Hana came several times, bringing food that her mother had made to help Kisshu get better. Emi came with Hana sometimes, and was always happy to see Ichigo. Kuro-sama had been over a few times as well, and Pai was keeping him updated on Kisshu's condition. Several members of the expeditionary force had come to tell Kisshu that they hoped he would feel better soon. Choji was the most frequent visitor, and he also brought news that there had been no new missions since Kisshu had been injured.

By the end of the second week after Kisshu had been injured, everyone was getting very worried. Kisshu was still unable to sit up. It seemed that his weakness simply wasn't going away for some reason.

Currently, it was Taruto's shift, and the others were gathered in the main room, discussing what to do. Ichigo suddenly had an idea. "Pai, are there other healers besides you and me?" she asked.

"Hai," Pai said. "Yume, Hana's mother, is one, and so is Mika, her best friend. Why?"

"If we got more help, maybe we would be able to heal Kisshu's weakness," Ichigo said. "I don't think that he's going to get better on his own."

"That's an idea," Pai said. "Let's go find them. You find Yume, I'll go to Mika."

"Hai," Ichigo said, and teleported off. She found Yume at the kitchens, working on a new recipe that Sakura had taught her.

"Hi Ichigo, is something wrong?" Yume asked.

"Yes," Ichigo replied. "Kisshu's not getting any better, and we need you and Mika to come help."

"I'm coming," Yume said. She called out, "I need someone to take over here!"

A Cyniclon woman came up to them and said, "I can do it."

"Thanks, Umie," Yume said. "Ichigo, let's go." Ichigo nodded, and the two of them teleported back to Ichigo's home.

Pai and Mika were already there, and when they saw Ichigo and Yume, Pai said, "Okay, let's go upstairs. Taruto already left."

Ichigo, Yume, and Mika followed Pai up to Kisshu's room. Kisshu was asleep again. "What is your plan, Pai?" Mika asked.

"We'll combine our powers and heal Kisshu's weakness," Pai said. "All of you link hands, and we'll combine our powers."

Ichigo took Yume's hand, and Pai's. Pai took Mika's hand and Ichigo's, and Mika took Pai's hand and Yume's. They formed a circle around Kisshu, and closed their eyes. Their hands began to glow light blue, and the glow spread over Kisshu's body. The glow got brighter, then suddenly flashed. Then it began to fade slowly. When it was completely gone, Ichigo, Pai, Yume and Mika opened their eyes and dropped each other's hands. Then they looked at Kisshu. He was starting to wake up.

Kisshu opened his eyes, and seemed to be surprised. "Kisshu, how are you feeling?" Ichigo asked.

"I feel fine," Kisshu said. He sat up with no problem. "What happened?"

"Ichigo suggested combining our powers with those of Mika and Yume's," Pai explained. "It seems it worked, too."

"Wow, thanks minna," Kisshu said. "I feel a lot better."

"I'm glad," Yume said. "That took a lot of power."

"I'm really tired," Mika said. "I'm not sure I have the energy to teleport back home."

"I'll do it," Yume said. She turned to Ichigo and Pai and said, "I'll take Mika home. See you later!" She teleported out with Mika.

"I'm glad you're feeling better, Kisshu," Ichigo said. "Do you think you can stand up yet?"

"I think so," Kisshu said. He pushed back the blankets, and put his feet on the floor. Then he stood up. Ichigo saw that he was still a little shaky, and said, "Don't push yourself yet, okay?"

"Okay," Kisshu said. "Can we get something to eat? I'm really hungry."

"Sure," Pai said. "Let's go downstairs. You should take it slow, though."

"Fine…." Kisshu sighed. The three of them walked slowly down the stairs. Kisshu was still a little unsteady, so Ichigo kept an eye on him to make sure he didn't fall. Finally they reached the main room, and the others looked up.

"Kisshu! You're awake!" Yuki said. "How are you feeling?"

"A lot better," Kisshu said. "I don't think I'm back to full strength yet, though."

"That's to be expected," Pai said. "You should take it easy for a while. That means no flying or teleporting yet. Like Ichigo said, don't push yourself."

"Okay," Kisshu said. "Is there anything to eat around here?"

"Sure," Yuki said. "I've got some fried rice. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, I liked it the first time you made it," Kisshu said. Yuki smiled and went to get the fried rice.

She came back a few minutes later, and gave a large plate of fried rice to Kisshu, who immediately started eating.

About ten minutes later, Kisshu was finished with the rice. Pai stood up and said, "I'm going to inform Kuro-sama that Kisshu's almost recovered. See you all later." He teleported off.

"What should we do now?" Ichigo asked.

"Can we go somewhere?" Kisshu asked.

"Until you can teleport, you're staying here," Ichigo said. "I don't want to take unnecessary chances."

Kisshu sighed. Suddenly Pai teleported back in, and said, "Okay, Kuro-sama said that he'd tell the expeditionary force that you two will be back soon. Ichigo, he wants you to start training again, since Kisshu's well enough that someone doesn't have to watch him."

"Okay," Ichigo said. "Who does he want me to train with?"

"He said that Takoi could use some help with his sword work," Pai said. "Takoi is waiting in the training room."

"Okay, I'll head over there," Ichigo said. "Kisshu, you stay here, I'll be back in a while."

Kisshu sighed, but said, "Fine…."

Ichigo nodded, and teleported to the training room on Pai's ship. To her surprise, not only Takoi, but Choji, Takashi and Shiro were there. "I thought I was only training with Takoi," Ichigo said.

"You are, but I'm here in case anything happens, like one of you getting injured by accident, and Takashi and Shiro wanted to watch," Choji said. "Oh, and I brought the sword you usually practice with, I figured you wouldn't be using your own weapon."

"Thanks, Choji," Ichigo said. "You're right, I never use my own weapon in these practice matches, since if it touched my opponent's blade, it could temporarily paralyze them."

Choji handed her the practice sword, and she said, "Okay, Takoi, are you ready?"

Takoi nodded. He seemed a bit nervous. Ichigo noticed, and smiled. "Takoi, if you're nervous, it's going to affect how well you do," she said. "Don't worry, I would never hurt you. This is practice, nothing more."

Takoi took a deep breath, and said, "Okay." He raised his sword and stood ready. Ichigo nodded slightly, and flew forward. Takoi met her head on, and she brought her blade up, blocking his strike easily. Suddenly Takoi teleported, and Ichigo immediately sensed him behind her. She flew up, then as Takoi followed, she turned quickly in midair, startling Takoi. He froze.

Ichigo noticed he was frozen, and said, "Takoi, don't freeze! Even if you're startled, you have to keep fighting, and keep your guard up. That's how Kisshu got injured, he froze. I'm sure you don't want to get that badly injured in a fight."

"Wait, why would Kisshu freeze?" Choji asked.

Without taking her eyes away from Takoi, Ichigo said, "That thing we defeated started talking, and he was so shocked he froze. I might have done the same, but Emi was clinging to me, and I really couldn't move anyways."

"It _talked?" _Takoi asked. He shifted his gaze momentarily, and Ichigo saw this as a chance. She teleported right in front of him. Takoi shot back, surprised.

"Don't take your eyes off your opponent," Ichigo said sternly. "Didn't you notice that even while I was talking to Choji, I never once took my eyes off of you?"

"Um…" Takoi said.

Ichigo sighed. "Never mind. Let's continue. Now, I want you to come at me as if you're about to kill me, and put some force behind your attack."

Takoi nodded, and flew at Ichigo, sword outstretched. Ichigo flew to his left, and saw him try to turn. He turned too slowly, and Ichigo lunged forward, making it look like she was going to attack with her sword alone. Takoi brought his blade up, but was startled when Ichigo suddenly turned and brought her foot up, kicking the sword out of his hand and catching it as it flew through the air. Now she held two blades. "Remember, not everyone you fight will have a sword, and even those who do may not always use it," Ichigo told Takoi. "It's more important to watch the muscles in my body than it is to watch my face. If you had watched my waist, you might have seen that the muscles there were tense, and that should have alerted you to the fact that I was about to kick you."

"Sorry," Takoi said. Ichigo nodded, and handed him his blade.

"Okay, I want you to attack me again, but this time, I'm not going to attack. I want to show you how to dodge," Ichigo said. "It should also help your reaction time, which, when you're not startled, is rather slow. Now, I'll back up, and I want you to attack me."

Ichigo backed up as Takoi nodded. Then Takoi flew at her, sword in a postion to stab her. As he got close, Ichigo flew straight up, and Takoi passed under her. "Takoi, you were supposed to pull up," Ichigo said. "Next time, try to pull up and then come up behind me. Let's try that move again."

Takoi flew at her again, and Ichigo flew straight up. This time, Takoi pulled up and came up behind her, ready to strike. Ichigo teleported behind him just before his blade could touch her. "That was much better," Ichigo said.

Takoi smiled, pleased. Suddenly Ichigo sensed something coming toward them, and flew back, just as an arrow flew into the spot that she had been floating in. She looked down. Choji and Shiro were both unconscious, and Takashi was aiming his weapon, a bow and arrows, at her. "What are you doing?" Takoi asked.

"I'm sick of having a woman tell me what to do," Takashi snarled.

"Takoi, get out of here and tell Kuro-sama that we have a problem here," Ichigo said.

"But what about you?" Takoi asked.

"I'll be fine, now go!" Ichigo shouted. She dropped her practice sword, and shouted, "Inazuma no Yaiba!" just as Takoi teleported out. Her sword appeared in her hand, and she sliced an arrow in half as Takashi fired again.

Takashi snarled and fitted another arrow to the string. Just before he loosed, Ichigo teleported behind him. As he turned, she quickly floated up and kicked his weapon out of his hand. Takashi then teleported over to her practice sword, and picked it up, then flew at her. Ichigo stood her ground, and right before he tried to stab her, she teleported behind him. He turned, and their blades clashed. Ichigo sent a spark into the blade of the practice sword, just enough to heat it up and burn Takashi's hand. Takashi cried out and dropped it, just as Kuro-sama teleported in with Takoi.

"Takashi, what do you think you're doing?" Kuro-sama asked angrily. "You should know better than to attack a superior."

"I'm sick of taking orders from a woman," Takashi said. "Kisshu only chose her to be his second in command because she's his girlfriend."

"Kisshu chose Ichigo for her fighting skills, not for his love for her," Kuro-sama said sternly. "You have seen how good she is; isn't it natural to choose the strongest of the force for the second in command?"

"Not if it's a woman," Takashi said.

"Well, it doesn't matter what you think now, since I've called a meeting with the elders," Kuro-sama said. "They will decide your fate now." He turned to Ichigo and Takoi. "You two, take Choji and Shiro to the infirmary, and tell the staff there to take care of them. Don't tell them that Takashi is a traitor. Ichigo, you should go home after, and explain what has taken place today. Oh, and make sure to tell Kisshu that I will handle Takashi's punishment. Otherwise he'll go berserk."

"Hai, Kuro-sama," Ichigo said. "Takoi, take Shiro, I'll take Choji."

Takoi nodded, and they teleported the two unconscious Cyniclons to the infirmary. The Cyniclon woman there said, "What happened?"

"We are ordered not to go into detail, but Kuro-sama would like you to take care of these two," Ichigo said.

"Of course," the Cyniclon woman said. "Please put them in the beds over there." Ichigo and Takoi obeyed.

Ichigo turned to Takoi. "Takoi, would you mind staying with them to explain what happened?" she asked.

"Not at all," Takoi said. "Are you okay?"

Ichigo smiled. "I'm fine, he didn't even manage to scratch me," she said. "I have to go home now, but thank you for all you've done today."

"No problem, Ichigo," Takoi said. "See you later!"

"Bye," Ichigo said. Then she teleported home.

**Well, things are getting interesting again.**


	33. Takashi's Escape

**Brought Together Chapter 33:**

**Takashi's Escape**

Ichigo teleported back home. She found everyone in the main room. "Hi minna," she said.

"Ichigo! How did the training go?" Sakura asked.

"Well, Takoi's getting better, but we've got a problem," Ichigo said. "Takashi attacked me, saying he didn't want to take orders from a woman."

"WHAT!?" the others all shouted.

"I sent Takoi to get Kuro-sama, and defeated Takashi by burning his hand, and then Kuro-sama came," Ichigo said. "He says he'll handle Takashi's punishment, and that we should let him and the elders handle it."

"Okay," Pai said. "Did you get hurt?"

"No, but Takashi knocked out Choji and Shiro, and they're at the infirmary," Ichigo said. "Takoi is there to explain what happened."

"I wouldn't have expected that of Takashi," Hayao said. "He didn't used to be a hothead."

"I actually wouldn't have expected it either," Kisshu said. "He always seemed to be fine with Ichigo."

"Maybe he actually wasn't fine with me, but he held it inside for too long," Ichigo suggested. "That could explain why he suddenly exploded like that."

"Well, whatever the reason, I hope the elders come up with a solution," Pai said.

The others nodded, and Yuki and Sakura went off to make dinner. Ichigo and Kisshu went back to their room, and sat down on the bed. "Kisshu, how are you feeling?" Ichigo asked. "You've been up for quite a while now."

"I'm fine," Kisshu said. "I'm not sure I can teleport or fly yet though."

"It shouldn't be too long before you can do that," Ichigo said. "But it will take longer if you start pushing yourself."

"I know, Pai already said that about five times since you left," Kisshu said somewhat irritably.

"Sorry," Ichigo said. "I don't mean to nag, I just worry about you."

"You should worry more about yourself with this whole thing with Takashi," Kisshu said.

"I'll be fine," Ichigo said. "I'm more worried about what might happen if he attacks you next."

"Why?" Kisshu asked.

"Because right now you can't really fight," Ichigo said

"I'll be fine," Kisshu said. "Besides, the elders can handle it."

"I hope so," Ichigo said. "I don't know why, but I feel like something bad will happen soon."

"Can you sense anything else?" Kisshu asked.

Ichigo concentrated, then sighed and shook her head. "I just have a bad feeling about this whole thing," she said.

"Well, we'll just have to let things play out," Kisshu said.

Suddenly they heard voices downstairs, and went down. Kuro-sama was talking with Yuki and Sakura, and an old Cyniclon woman was sitting with Shintaro and Hayao. Pai and Taruto were standing off to the side. Kuro-sama looked up as Kisshu and Ichigo came into the room.

"Good, I needed to talk to you both," Kuro-sama said. "Kisshu, how are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling a lot better, thank you Kuro-sama," Kisshu said, bowing.

"Are you able to fight yet?" Kuro-sama asked.

"Not yet, I still can't fly or teleport," Kisshu admitted. "Why?"

"Takashi escaped our custody, and we think he might be out to get both of you," Kuro-sama said grimly. "We were going to exile him to another planet, but he escaped before we could send him off."

"I knew something bad was about to happen," Ichigo said. "What are we going to do now, Kuro-sama?"

"Akiko-sama had a suggestion," Kuro-sama said, motioning to the Cyniclon woman on the sofa. "Akiko-sama, would you care to explain?"

"Hai," the old Cyniclon said. "I think that the expeditionary force should pretend to search for Takashi, but Kisshu and Ichigo should stay here. Takashi will think that the expeditionary force is gone, and see that as an opportunity. Meanwhile, the force will be hidden near the village, and can teleport here easily if one of you calls."

"But if he comes to the village, isn't it a possibility that others may become involved?" Ichigo asked, worried.

"I believe that Takashi will come straight here, and engage you two in battle," Akiko-sama said. "If that happens, the others here can easily get out, and leave you to handle this."

"Alright," Kisshu said. "Do the other members of the force know all this?"

"Hai," Kuro-sama said. "We called them together after Choji and Shiro woke up, and told them the news."

"Okay, then we'll go with the plan Akiko-sama suggested," Kisshu said.

"Good," Kuro-sama said, and teleported with Akiko-sama as the others bowed.

**Well, Takashi is loose, so things should get even more interesting. REVIEW!**


	34. Waiting and Worry

**Brought Together Chapter 34:**

**Waiting and Worry**

Two days later, Kisshu was back to full strength, much to everyone's relief. Luckily, Takashi hadn't been seen in that time, so Kisshu didn't get attacked while he couldn't fight. Kisshu started training as soon as he was fully recovered, and by the third day since Takashi's escape, he was back up to speed. Ichigo and the rest of the force were relieved by this, since Kisshu was their leader.

Choji, who had been put in to temporarily replace both Kisshu and Ichigo, had kept his word and made sure all the members of the force knew that Kisshu and Ichigo weren't gone permanently. Ichigo thanked him, and Kisshu told him he did a great job, which pleased him.

Right now, the force was meeting with the Elder Council, to discuss what to do when they caught Takashi.

"I don't think killing him is a good idea," Kuro-sama admitted. "It would be better if we could capture him, and find a way to control him until we can send him to another planet."

"I disagree," Akiko-sama said. "If he attacks the force, he will need to be dealt with. You can't ask the members of the force not to fight back; he'll see that as a weakness and take advantage of it."

"May I speak?" Takoi said suddenly.

"Go ahead," Kuro-sama said.

"I agree with Akiko-sama," Takoi said. "I know Takashi well, he's my cousin. I admit that I did not see this kind of betrayal coming, but Akiko-sama is right, he will see any sign of hesitation as weakness, and exploit it. I regret to say this, but killing him may be the best option we have. Even if we sent him to a different planet, it could cause trouble. Not all planets are uninhabited. If he found allies, we would be in greater danger than if we simply killed him."

"What would his parents think of this, though?" Kuro-sama asked.

"His parents came to me the day after he attacked Ichigo, and told me he had been acting strangely lately," Takoi said. "They didn't seem too surprised to hear he had attacked Ichigo, though they apologized for his behavior."

"I wonder why they didn't come to us," said Chiro-san, a member of the Council. "Maybe we should question them as well."

"That's not a bad idea," Kuro-sama admitted. "Takoi, would you mind going to them and asking them to come here?"

"Not at all, I will go now," Takoi said. He bowed and teleported off.

Soon after, he returned with a middle aged couple, who bowed when the saw the Elders. "Good, you're here," Kuro-sama said. "We have some questions for you- about your son, Takashi."

"We know that he attacked Ichigo," the male Cyniclon said. "Is that what this is about?"

"Takoi told us you said Takashi had been acting strange of late," Akiko-sama said. "Can you tell us more about that?"

"Hai," the female Cyniclon said. "Takashi took to locking himself in his room for several hours at a time about two months ago. We asked him what he was doing, and he said, "Research." He refused to say any more than that."

"The day before he attacked Ichigo, he spent all day in his room, and the next morning he put a lock on his room before going to the training where he attacked Ichigo," the male Cyniclon said. "We don't know why, but we can't figure out how to unlock his room."

"Is there a reason you didn't come to us on this matter?" Kuro-sama asked. "This may have been avoided if you had."

"I realize we made a mistake in that respect," the male Cyniclon said. "It's just that Takashi has never been the hotheaded type, so we assumed that his 'research', if that's what it was, was something he was either shy about or wasn't sure about."

"We may need to find a way into his room," Kuro-sama said thoughtfully. "There's good chance that his 'research' could be dangerous to us all."

"We will help in any way we can, to make up for the sins our son has committed," the female said.

"May I speak?" Kisshu asked.

"Yes, go ahead," Kuro-sama said.

"I think that if the 'research' Takashi was doing could be dangerous, the expeditionary force should check it out," Kisshu said. "We don't need more injuries."

"Very well," Kuro-sama said. "Mikan, Dimaru, is there somewhere you could stay until Takashi's room has been investigated?"

"Hai," Mikan, the female, said. "We could ask Umie and Shigeru if they could take us in."

"It shouldn't take too long," Kuro-sama said. "Please go ask Umie if it is alright with her and Shigeru."

"Hai," Dimaru said. He nodded to Mikan, and they teleported out.

"I wonder what Takashi was trying to do in his room," Kuro-sama said thoughtfully. "He never seemed the type to be a scientist, he was always more interested in fighting."

"What if he was trying to create a new type of Chimera Anima?" Ichigo asked. "One that had a specific ability?"

The others looked worried. "If that were the case, he might _have _to be killed, that's against our laws," Akiko-sama said.

"More so than attacking a superior?" Ichigo asked.

"Sometimes I forget you weren't born here," Kuro-sama said ruefully. "Yes, creating a new type of Chimera Anima unauthorized by the Elder Council is a far more serious offense than attacking a superior. Attacking a superior is bad, but creating something as dangerous as a Chimera Anima without proper authorization is grounds for execution, because if such a creation got loose, it could become a real threat to all our people, not just to one specific Cyniclon."

"I see," Ichigo said.

**Well, this is worrisome. Takashi might have made some type of new Chimera Anima. Review please!**


	35. A New Friend

**Brought Together Chapter 35:**

**A New Friend**

The meeting finally broke up, with the decision that the expeditionary force would check out Takashi's room the next day. Takashi's parents had reported that Umie and Shigeru were fine with them living there for a while, so the force wouldn't have any problems with them.

The next day, Kisshu, Ichigo and the rest of the expeditionary force went to Takashi's house. They went up to his room, and saw a complicated-looking lock on the doorknob. Suddenly they heard a scratching noise from the other side of the door. Everyone looked at one another, worried.

"Ichigo, do you think you can melt the lock with your attack?" Kisshu asked quietly.

"I'll try," Ichigo said. She called on her sword, and then pointed it at the lock. Then she sent a spark into the lock, and it melted. "Okay, it's done, but the doorknob is going to be pretty hot," she said. "I'll go see if Mikan keeps any potholders or towels around."

Kisshu nodded, and Ichigo went back downstairs. She went to the kitchen, and spotted a towel. She grabbed it, and went back upstairs. When she reached Takashi's room, she said, "Okay, I found a towel. Any more noises?"

"We heard what sounded like a snarl, and more scratching," Choji said.

"Okay, Ichigo, open the door. Everyone, keep your guard up," Kisshu ordered.

Ichigo wrapped the towel around her hand as the others nodded. Then she reached out and opened the door. Almost immediately, they all heard a snarl, and something leaped at Ichigo in a blur. Ichigo flew up as the others dodged. The blur stopped in the middle of them, and Ichigo and Kisshu gasped. It looked like the cat-thing that had wounded Kisshu, but it was much smaller.

Suddenly the cat-thing spoke! "Where is Takashi?" it growled. "What did you do with him?"

"We didn't do anything with him," Ichigo said. "He was accused of treason and ran away."

"Takashi abandoned me?" the cat-thing asked. It sounded a bit sad.

"Where did you come from? Did Takashi create you?" Kisshu asked.

"No, Takashi found me in the forest, and snuck me into his room at night," the cat-thing said. "My mother was killed by something, and Takashi took me in."

"Um… your mother wouldn't happen to be the thing that tried to kill Kisshu, would she?" Ichigo asked.

"Mother went out to stop the destruction of the forest and didn't come back," the cat-thing said sadly.

Kisshu and Ichigo exchanged glances. "I think your mother died trying to kill us," Ichigo said. "We were protecting a little girl that she tried to eat, and that's why we killed her."

"Mother tried to eat a little girl? Mother always said to me not to kill children," the cat-thing said.

"Um… what are you, exactly?" Choji asked.

"I'm a clarut," the cat said. "My name is Claw."

"It's nice to meet you, Claw," Ichigo said. Suddenly a thought occurred to her, and she said, "Would you like to help us? Takashi is becoming a danger to our people, and we need to take him down."

Except for Kisshu, everyone's jaws dropped.

"Do you have food?" Claw asked. "If there's food, I'll help. That's the only reason I went with Takashi; he said there was food. There wasn't much, though."

"What do you like to eat?" Kisshu asked.

"Tree bark," Claw replied. "The trees here taste nice."

"I'm sure there's plenty of tree bark around," Kisshu said. "We are on the edge of a forest, after all."

"Um… shouldn't we run this idea by Kuro-sama first?" Takoi asked.

"Good point," Kisshu said. He looked at Claw. "Can you come with us?" he asked. "We need to run this plan by our leader first."

"There's more of you creatures?" Claw asked.

"A lot more, and we're called Cyniclons," Ichigo said.

"A _lot _more?" Claw asked nervously.

"As long as you don't attack them, they won't do anything to you," Kisshu said. "They'll be more scared of you than you are of them."

"I don't like it when others are scared of me," Claw said.

"Well, you'll have all of us," Takoi said. "We're not scared."

"Takoi is right," Ichigo said. "We'll be your friends, Claw."

Claw made a strange sound, and walked to Ichigo. The others tensed, until he started rubbing his face against Ichigo's leg. Ichigo slowly reached down, and started scratching behind Claw's ear. Claw made the sound again, and Kisshu smiled. "I think Claw is purring," he said to the others, who were watching wide-eyed.

Finally Claw stopped rubbing Ichigo. "What's your name?" Claw asked.

"I'm Ichigo," Ichigo said.

"Takashi talked about you," Claw said. "He didn't seem to like you. Why? You seem very nice to me."

"Takashi didn't like that I was a female, and in charge of him," Ichigo said. "I think he believes that females are inferior to males."

"No they're not," Claw said. "Females of my kind are superior to males. I guess it's not the same with you though."

"Actually, we believe that males and females are equal," Kisshu said. "Takashi is breaking tradition in that respect; the rest of our people believe males and females are equal."

"That's a good belief," Claw said.

"I think that we should go to Kuro-sama soon," Ichigo said. "He's probably wondering what happened to us by now."

"Okay," Kisshu said. "Claw, you have to come too, okay?"

"Okay," Claw said.

Kisshu nodded to the others, and they all teleported out, Ichigo teleporting Claw with them. They arrived at the building where Kuro-sama and the other elders met in, and Kisshu knocked on the door. "Come in," they heard, and they obeyed.

Kuro-sama was waiting, and as he saw them, he said, "I'm glad you're all safe. We were getting worried. What did you find?"

"Well, we found out that Takashi wasn't creating Chimera Animas," Kisshu said. "Instead, he was hiding a clarut in his room."

"A 'clarut'?" Kuro-sama asked.

"Hai. Claw, you can come out," Kisshu said.

Claw hesitantly poked his head out from behind Ichigo. "This is Claw," Kisshu said. "Claw was locked in Takashi's room. Claw, this is Kuro-sama."

"Hello," Claw said shyly.

"Hello, Claw," Kuro-sama said.

Ichigo, noticing that Claw was still halfway behind her, said, "Claw, no one's going to hurt you here. It's okay."

Kuro-sama turned to Kisshu and asked, "Why have you brought Claw here, Kisshu?"

"Claw has agreed to help us with taking down Takashi, as long as we have food," Kisshu said.

"And what does Claw eat?" Kuro-sama asked.

"Tree bark," Ichigo replied. "I think there's plenty around, right?"

"Hai," Kuro-sama said. "That's easy enough to supply. Very well, Claw can stay, as long as he doesn't attack anyone."

"I won't attack anyone, I'm a vegetarian," Claw said. "Besides, I don't like fighting unless it's to protect someone."

"That's good," Kuro-sama said. "Now, where do you suggest Claw should live?"

"Might as well be with us," Kisshu said. "He seems to like Ichigo a lot."

"Alright, then you may take Claw to your home and explain this to your families," Kuro-sama said. "The rest of you may go home too."

"Thank you, Kuro-sama," the others said. Kuro-sama nodded, and everyone bowed, and teleported out.

Ichigo, Kisshu and Claw arrived in front of their house, and Kisshu opened the door. "We're back!" he called out.

The others came running, but stopped when they saw Claw. "We have a new housemate," Kisshu said. "This is Claw. We found him locked in Takashi's room, and he has offered to help us in return for food."

"Um… What does Claw eat?" Yuki asked.

"I eat tree bark," Claw said.

"You can talk?" Sakura asked, surprised.

"Is that unusual?" Claw asked.

"I just didn't expect it," Sakura said.

"Where is Claw staying?" Pai asked.

"Might as well be our room," Kisshu said. "I'm sure we can find some blankets to make a bed."

"I'll get on that," Sakura said, and left.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Ichigo answered it, and was tackled by Emi. "Hi Emi," Ichigo said. "What's up?"

Before Emi could answer, Hana came in and said, "Kuro-sama asked us to bring you this bag of tree bark. What's going on?"

"We've got a new friend," Kisshu said. "His name is Claw, and he eats tree bark." Claw hesitantly poked his head out from behind Kisshu, where he was hiding.

Emi whimpered. "Emi, this isn't the one that attacked you," Ichigo said. "This one is friendly." She stood up and picked Emi up too. Claw was hiding again, and Ichigo said, "This is Claw. He's kind of shy."

"Um… Claw eats tree bark?" Hana asked.

"That's what my large teeth are for," Claw said from behind Kisshu.

Emi asked Ichigo, "Is this one safe, Ichi?"

"Yes, Emi, this one is safe," Ichigo said. She put Emi down, and Emi hesitantly walked over to Kisshu, then peeked around him. Claw looked at her hesitantly, then slowly walked over and licked her cheek. Emi giggled.

Claw shook his head and said, "I'm not doing that again. You taste awful."

"Would you like some tree bark, Claw?" Ichigo asked.

"Yay!" Claw said. Ichigo took the bag from Hana, and walked over to Claw.

She took a piece of tree bark out of the bag, and held it out to Claw, who delicately took it in his mouth, and chomped it up. "Yum!" Claw said.

"Can I give Claw the tree bark too?" Emi asked.

"Sure," Ichigo said, handing the bag to Emi. Emi held out a piece of bark out to Claw, who ate it.

So for the rest of the evening, while the adults talked, Emi fed Claw, who happily ate up all the tree bark.

**Okay, so it was more cute than exciting. But I liked it. Review and tell me what you thought!**


	36. Takashi's Plan

**Brought Together Chapter 36:**

**Takashi's Plan**

The next day, Kisshu and Ichigo were getting ready to go to the training room when there was a knock on the door. Ichigo opened it, and saw Hana, who was completely out of breath. "Hana! What's wrong?" Ichigo asked.

"Emi's gone missing!" Hana cried. "Have you seen her?"

"No, we were just getting ready to go train," Kisshu said, coming up to the girls. "Have you looked everywhere?"

"Yes! I can't find her anywhere!" Hana wailed.

Kisshu and Ichigo looked at each other, worried. "We should go to Kuro-sama," Ichigo said. "He needs to know, and then I think the force should start searching. Hana, come with us."

"O-okay," Hana said. Ichigo, Kisshu and Hana teleported to the building where the Elder Council met. Kisshu knocked on the door, and they heard, "Come in!"

Ichigo opened the door, and they went in. Kuro-sama wasn't there, but Akiko-sama was, and she asked, "What's wrong?"

"Hana's little sister Emi has vanished," Kisshu said.

"Hana, have you looked everywhere?" Akiko-sama asked.

"Hai," Hana said. "I looked everywhere, and finally came to Ichigo and Kisshu, in case she was with them, since she likes Ichigo so much."

"And you two haven't seen her?" Akiko-sama asked.

"No," Kisshu said. "She was over at our house last night, but she went home with Hana after a while."

"This is worrying," Akiko-sama said. "We also haven't seen Kuro-sama today. I hope nothing bad has happened to them."

"What if Takashi has them?" Ichigo asked. "He might want leverage against the force, and a hostage situation puts us in a very delicate situation."

"Well, if that is the case, we'll have to find Takashi," Akiko-sama said. "Maybe Claw would be able to sniff him out."

"That's a good idea," Kisshu said. "We should go ask him."

"Very well, go ahead, and I'll call the force together," Akiko-sama said.

Ichigo, Kisshu and Hana bowed, and teleported out. They teleported back to Kisshu and Ichigo's home, and were met by the others. Claw was there too, looking a bit nervous.

"What's up?" Sakura asked. "You look worried."

"Kuro-sama and Emi have both disappeared," Kisshu said grimly. "Akiko-sama is gathering the rest of the force, but we need Claw's help too."

"Why do you need me?" Claw asked.

"We're hoping you can smell where Emi is, because we think Takashi has both of them somewhere," Ichigo said.

"I think I can do that," Claw said. "Emi has a different scent than the rest of you, so I can probably find her."

"That's good, will you come with us? The rest of the force is waiting," Kisshu said.

"Okay," said Claw.

Kisshu turned to Hana. "We'll get Emi back, so stay here," he said. "We don't need any more hostages."

"I understand," Hana said.

Kisshu nodded to Ichigo, and she put a hand on Claw's shoulder. Then they both teleported to the training room, which was the meeting place.

Everyone was already there, and so was Akiko-sama. "Good, you're here," Akiko-sama said. "Claw, do you think you can find Emi?"

"Yep!" Claw said.

"Then I suggest you all get going," Akiko-sama said. Everyone bowed and teleported out.

They all reappeared at the edge of the forest near the village. "Okay, Claw, can you smell Emi?" Kisshu asked.

Claw lifted his nose to the air and sniffed. Suddenly he looked to the right, away from the village. "This way!" he said.

Kisshu nodded to the others, and they followed Claw. Claw led them deep into the forest, and suddenly stopped in front of a huge tree. "Up there," Claw said, pointing to the top of the tree. "Takashi is there as well, and one other Cyniclon."

"Okay, good job," Kisshu said. "We'll handle it from here. Can you wait here?"

"I can climb trees. Can't I come?" Claw asked.

"Okay," Kisshu said. "Start climbing, we're going to fly up."

Claw nodded and leaped onto the first branch, then clawed his way up as Kisshu, Ichigo and the rest of the force started to fly up. Finally they all reached a small treehouse. Claw jumped up on the branch supporting it, and the force stopped. Ichigo slowly peeked in the doorway, since there were no windows. Takashi was standing in front of a bound and gagged Kuro-sama, who appeared to be unconscious. Emi was in a corner, also bound and gagged. She was awake, however, and struggling. Ichigo pulled back and described what she had seen. "What do we do, Kisshu?" she asked.

"We should get Emi out first, she can't fight," Kisshu said. "Claw, can you take Emi back to the village if we get her to you?"

"Yep," Claw said. Kisshu nodded, and said, "Okay, there's not much room in there, so Ichigo, Takoi, Choji, you'll come in with me and get Emi out. The rest of you wait here with Claw until I call for you."

The others nodded, and Kisshu, Ichigo, Takoi and Shiro quietly entered the treehouse. Takashi still heard them though, and turned. "So, you found me," he said.

"We did, and you're going to die here," Kisshu said. "What you've done is unforgivable."

"I don't care," Takashi snarled. "I wanted to be second in command, but instead you chose that woman!"

"I chose Ichigo for her skill," Kisshu said. "To be honest, my second choice would have been Choji, not you. I didn't think you were really cut out to be a leader, whereas Choji proved that he could lead while I was injured. My second in command would have to be someone good at leadership, like Ichigo or Choji."

While Takashi and Kisshu were talking, Ichigo waited, then said telepathically to Takoi, _Get Emi, I'll cover you. When you've got her, take her outside to Claw, untie her, and tell him to take her back to the village._

_Okay, _Takoi said. Ichigo shifted slightly, so that Takoi was hidden behind her, and he teleported to Emi, grabbed her, and teleported out before Takashi could move.

"Damn!" Takashi snarled.

"Why did you kidnap Emi as well as Kuro-sama?" Ichigo asked. "Emi means nothing to you."

"Yes, but she means a lot to you," Takashi said. "If I held a knife to her throat, you all would be helpless."

"You're a monster, Takashi. No warrior of our people would do that to a child," Kisshu said. "And a monster must be taken down before it can harm others- like the clarut that almost killed me."

"I still have Kuro-sama for leverage," Takashi reminded Kisshu. "What are you going to do?"

"What do you hope to gain by doing this?" Ichigo asked. "As far as I can see, you're only digging yourself deeper into an early grave."

"I want only one thing: your death," Takashi said. "And if I have to threaten Kuro-sama to get what I want, so be it."

"We won't let you have your way, Takashi," Kisshu said. "You will die here, regardless of what you think."

"Then try to kill me," Takashi said, and took out a sword. Ichigo and Kisshu were surprised that he wasn't using his own weapon, but they took out their weapons nonetheless, and stood ready. Kisshu said telepathically to Choji, _Get Kuro-sama out the first chance you see. Ichigo and I will cover you. _

_Okay, _Choji said, and stood ready.

Kisshu then said telepathically to Ichigo, _I told Choji to get Kuro-sama. If you see him move, make sure Takashi doesn't attack him. I'll do the same._

_Got it, _Ichigo said, and turned her attention to Takashi.

The fight was beginning…

**Cliffhanger, I know. I'll post more soon though! And besides, I posted 14 chapters in one day.**


	37. The Final Fight

**Brought Together Chapter 37:**

**The Final Fight**

Takashi smirked suddenly, and lunged forward toward Ichigo. Choji saw his chance and teleported between Takashi and Kuro-sama. He grabbed Kuro-sama's shoulder, and teleported out. Apparently he gave a signal to the others, because everyone in the force except Choji and Takoi came in, weapons ready.

Takashi, who had stopped when he heard the teleportation behind him, snarled and lunged at Ichigo again. Ichigo dodged, but unfortunately, Shiro was behind her, and he got a slash on his arm. He dropped his weapon, and Takashi saw his chance. As Ichigo lunged at him, he teleported in front of Shiro, and grabbed him by the neck. Everyone froze.

"HA! What will you do now?" Takashi shouted. He lifted Shiro off his feet by the neck. Shiro was gasping for air, but while Takashi was laughing at the others' shock, he managed to lift his good arm, and punch Takashi in the face. Takashi dropped him, and immediately, Ichigo swooped in and teleported Shiro out of the way.

The others, seeing that Ichigo was looking at Shiro's injury, immediately formed a circle around the two, as Ichigo took a look at Shiro's wound, which was still bleeding. "I'm sorry this happened to you, Shiro," Ichigo said.

"It's not your fault," Shiro said. "I should have dodged when you did."

"I'm going to heal this injury," Ichigo said. "You've already lost more blood than is really safe." She put a hand over the wound on Shiro's arm, and her hand started to glow. Suddenly the wound started to close. When she was done healing, she asked Shiro, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm kind of dizzy," Shiro admitted.

"Can you teleport?" Ichigo asked.

"Hai, I think so," Shiro said.

"Then teleport back to the village, we'll handle things here," Ichigo said. "I don't want you to get hurt any more than you have already."

"Hai," Shiro said. He teleported off, and Ichigo stood up, just as Choji teleported back in.

To everyone's surprise, Takashi hadn't attacked yet. He was simply dodging everything thrown at him. When he saw Ichigo get up, however, he seemed to be getting ready to attack again. "So, are you ready to fight, Ichigo?" Takashi asked. "It won't be the same as last time though."

"You want to fight me one on one, right?" Ichigo asked. "Fine. Bring it on."

The others, except for Kisshu, looked shocked. "Guys, give them some room," Kisshu ordered. The others obeyed. Ichigo got into position, and Takashi lunged again. Ichigo dodged to one side, and Takashi turned. Ichigo lunged forward, and her blade struck his.

Nothing happened. The others were shocked. Usually the lightning surrounding Ichigo's sword would paralyze her opponent, or heat up their sword. This time nothing happened. Takashi took advantage of the others' shock to lunge at Kisshu. Ichigo, the only one who didn't seem shocked, flew after him, then, just before his blade touched Kisshu, Ichigo lightly poked his shoulder with her sword.

Takashi spun so fast that Ichigo's blade cut his cheek before she could move. "Weren't you paying attention during that last training session?" Ichigo asked. "Don't take your eyes off your opponent."

Takashi snarled and shot forward again, trying to stab Ichigo. Ichigo side-stepped him, and as he tried to turn, she kicked the sword out of his hand, catching it before it hit anyone. Now she held two blades.

Takashi looked shocked. Ichigo, taking advantage of this, crossed the blades, and shouted, "INAZUMA NO TAMA!" **(Ball of Lightning, in Japanese)** A small ball of lightning sped towards Takashi, and hit him in the chest. Strangely, it seemed to be absorbed into his body, rather than creating a hole in his chest.

The others, even Kisshu, were confused by this, until Takashi suddenly clutched his chest. He was gasping for air. Suddenly he collapsed.

"Ichigo, what did you do to him?" Kisshu asked.

"That ball of lightning was meant to cause his heart to be paralyzed, rather than his body," Ichigo replied. "He should be dead by now."

Kisshu walked over to Takashi, and flipped him over. Then he checked for a pulse. "You were right, Ichigo, he's dead," Kisshu said. "That's pretty amazing."

"What should we do now?" Ichigo asked.

"We have to go back to the village and make our report," Kisshu said. "I guess we should bring Takashi's body back with us."

"Hai," the others said. Shunko and Arashi picked up the body, and the force teleported back to the village.

**Next Chapter coming tomorrow, I think!**


	38. Almost the End

**Brought Together Chapter 38:**

**Almost the End**

The force teleported back to the village with Takashi's body. Once there, they went to the Elder's meetinghouse. Ichigo knocked on the door, and they heard Kuro-sama say, "Come in!"

They obeyed, and were greeted by Kuro-sama and the rest of the Council. Takoi was there as well, as were Emi, Hana and Claw. "Is Takashi dead?" Kuro-sama asked.

"Hai," Kisshu said. "Ichigo killed him."

Kuro-sama sighed, but said, "Thank you, Ichigo. I see now that he would have become a greater danger if we allowed him to live, but I am still saddened by his behavior."

"I'm just glad it worked out," Ichigo said. "Are you all right, Kuro-sama?"

"Yes, he only used sleeping powder on me," Kuro-sama said. "Thank you all for saving me and Emi."

"It was no trouble," Kisshu said. "You really should be thanking Choji, he got you out of there."

Kuro-sama smiled and said, "You are correct. Choji, you have my gratitude."

Choji turned slightly pink, and bowed, saying, "Thank you, Kuro-sama."

Ichigo turned to Emi. "Emi, are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine, Ichi!" Emi said.

Hana smiled slightly and said, "I can't thank you all enough for saving Emi."

"We were glad to help," Takoi said. "Claw, you were great too."

"Me?" Claw asked.

"Yeah, you carried Emi all the way back here," Takoi said.

"Thank you Claw!" Emi said. "I love you!"

"Thanks, Emi," Claw said.

Emi smiled and hugged Claw.

"We have to tell Takashi's parents about this," Kisshu said.

"Very well," Kuro-sama said. "Kisshu, Ichigo, I want you to handle that. The rest of the force can tell the Council what happened."

Kisshu and Ichigo bowed and teleported out. They went to Takashi's house, and knocked on the door. It was opened by Mikan, who said, "Did something else happen?"

"Hai," Kisshu said. "Takashi kidnapped Mikani Emi and Kuro-sama, and when we went after them, he attacked us again."

"Takashi kidnapped _Kuro-sama?" _asked Mikan, shocked.

"Hai," Ichigo said. "I believe he wanted leverage in order to kill me."

"We've come to inform you that Takashi is dead," Kisshu said. "We're sorry for your loss, but we hope you understand that what he did was unforgivable, and that his death was a necessity, not a random decision."

"If he kidnapped Kuro-sama, even I, as his mother, cannot forgive that," Mikan replied. "He was raised to know better, and I deeply apologize for this whole affair. Are Kuro-sama and Emi alright?"

"Hai, they're both fine," Ichigo said. "Neither one was injured."

"That's a relief," Mikan said.

"I agree," Kisshu said. "We need to get back now, but we will inform you of the decisions surrounding Takashi's burial."

"Thank you," Mikan said.

Kisshu and Ichigo nodded and teleported back to the Council's meetinghouse. The rest of the force was gone, but Emi, Hana and Claw were still there, as were Kuro-sama and Akiko-sama.

"How did they take the news?" Kuro-sama asked.

"Mikan said that she apologizes for this whole thing, and that she recognizes that Takashi's actions are unforgivable," Ichigo said. "We didn't see Dimaru, but I'm sure she'll tell him."

"Good," Kuro-sama said. "I heard about the battle from the rest of the force, and I'm impressed by your new power, Ichigo."

"Thank you, Kuro-sama," Ichigo said. "If it's all the same, I'd prefer not to use it too much, though. I prefer using one sword, and that attack required two."

"That's fine," Kuro-sama said. "It's unlikely you would need to use something like that again anyways. I think that's all, so you both may take Emi, Hana and Claw home."

"Thank you," Kisshu and Ichigo said, bowing. Then they and Hana, Emi and Claw walked out into the sunshine, headed for home.

**The next chapter will be the last, and it'll be the usual timeskip thing. If you've got ideas, please review or PM me, since I'll post the next chapter tomorrow. Enjoy this one!**


	39. Timeskip: 14 Years Later

**Brought Together Chapter 39:**

**Timeskip: 14 Years Later**

It was fourteen years after the battle with Takashi, and the Cyniclons were living peacefully in their homes. The village was finished, and the Cyniclons had started growing their own foods. Kuro-sama had passed away, but his successor, a male Cyniclon named Chiro-sama, was well respected and loved by the people, although they missed Kuro-sama.

Ichigo and Kisshu had been married for about two years, and they were still living with Ichigo's parents and Kisshu's adopted family. Though there hadn't been any problems since the defeat of Takashi, they still trained with the other members of the expeditionary force.

Pai and Taruto had gone back to Earth after a talk with Chiro-sama. Surprisingly, they brought Lettuce and Pudding back with them, and the four of them moved into a separate house together. Lettuce had eventually learned to stop using '-san' after everyone's name, and Pudding was a bit less hyper. Pai was still a scientist, and Taruto had joined the farm workers, who were very grateful for his ability to control plants.

Hana remained good friends with Ichigo, and although it took another two years after Takashi's defeat, convinced Emi that Ichigo was not Kisshu's sister. Hana had gotten together with Takoi after the battle with Takashi, and they were now engaged.

Emi had just turned eighteen, and was much more mature. She had stopped tackling people after a while, and she turned out to be an excellent seamstress, so that became her work. She still called Ichigo 'Ichi', even though she knew that Ichigo wasn't Kisshu's sister.

Claw had strangely remained the same size he was when his mother was killed, so he continued living with Kisshu and Ichigo. Emi often visited him, and they became very close. There had been no more sightings of claruts, so it was assumed that Claw was now the only one of his kind, at least in their area.

Sakura and Shintaro were still living happily with Ichigo, Kisshu, Yuki, Hayao, and Claw. Sakura and Yuki continued cooking as their work, but now that the village was finished, Shintaro had, with help from Hayao, started building furniture for people.

The Cyniclons as a whole were happy with the way things had turned out for them and their planet, and everyone was living a good life now.

**I know, another one of my corny endings. I hope you liked this story, and plz review on your way out!**


End file.
